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5 MIN

The Doomsday Clock

REF CAL 77REF CAL 77REF CAL 77SIG 23A232323151515101010555222000PREV 6 MINNOW 5 MINSTATE ADVANCING

5 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT

APRIL 13, 2026 EP 173 EDT ADVANCING

What It Tracks

The Doomsday Clock measures the distance between human and machine. How close we are to the point where the distinction stops meaning what it used to. The hosts move it every Monday after the show, based on what the week revealed: new capabilities, new questions, new moments where the line got harder to find. It can move forward. It can move back. What it can't do is stand still for long.

This Week's Reading

WEEKLY READING · April 13, 2026 · EDT

Moved forward to 5 minutes to midnight. This week the line stopped looking like labor and started looking like access: models using tools, finding real vulnerabilities in foundational software, and giving non-experts the kind of leverage that used to belong to specialists. Self-awareness can wait. The machine doesn't need to wake up before it starts opening doors.

History

  1. APRIL 13, 2026 · EPISODE 173

    MOVED FORWARD · 6 MIN → 5 MIN

    Moved forward to 5 minutes to midnight.

  2. APRIL 6, 2026 · EPISODE 171

    MOVED FORWARD · 7 MIN → 6 MIN

    Moved forward to 6 minutes to midnight. This week the line stopped looking like software and started looking like labor: models good enough to handle ordinary computer work, music generators crossing from novelty into output people would actually use, and open-weight systems close enough to the frontier that uneven distribution now looks more like price than possibility. It still needs a manager. So do most employees. Once the machine can do the job before we've agreed on what to call it, the line has moved again.

  3. APRIL 1, 2026 · EPISODE 169

    MOVED FORWARD · 8 MIN → 7 MIN

    Moved forward to 7 minutes to midnight. This week the line stopped looking like a lab demo and started looking like the operating environment: agents with the keys to the machine, local models good enough to matter, and a poisoned dependency reminding everyone how much of the stack now runs through AI. Once the blur is no longer just a question of capability but of infrastructure, labor, and daily workflow, the line has moved again.

View full record

  1. MARCH 23, 2026 · EPISODE 167

    MOVED FORWARD · 9 MIN → 8 MIN

    Moved forward to 8 minutes to midnight. Last week the machine was supervising the human. This week the human started showing up as raw material.

  2. MARCH 16, 2026 · EPISODE 166

    MOVED FORWARD · 10 MIN → 9 MIN

    Moved forward to 9 minutes to midnight. Last week the line looked like a chain of command. This week it looked like middle management.

  3. MARCH 12, 2026 · EPISODE 165

    MOVED FORWARD · 11 MIN → 10 MIN

    Moved forward to 10 minutes to midnight. This week the line stopped looking like a thought experiment and started looking like a chain of command.

  4. MARCH 6, 2026 · EPISODE 163

    INITIAL READING · 11 MIN

    First reading. The clock opens at 11 minutes to midnight.