Smoking has emerged as a new form of showing off among artificial intelligence (AI) researchers. Some researchers are said to smoke to signal their belief that AI will eventually cure cancer.

On Oct. 12, Business Insider reported that Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar (샴 산카르) said on a CBS News current affairs programme that some AI researchers started smoking to show their faith in AI.

Sankar claimed that many AI researchers began smoking to show other researchers how strongly they believe in AI. He said they believe AI will ultimately cure cancer because they believe in it that much, and that smoking is a way to show they have bet everything.

Sankar did not provide specific names or evidence to support the claim. Smoking remains a major cause of preventable disease and death, and advances in AI technology have not eliminated the health risks of cigarettes.

His remarks also intersect with an unusual trend in the tech industry, which places emphasis on health care and productivity optimisation. Unlike practices such as cold plunges, sleep tracking and peptide therapy, some founders, engineers and investors are embracing cigarettes as a means of socialising and networking. Some use smoke breaks as opportunities to meet people, and some see it as a way to appear less polished than a typical startup founder.

Comments directly linking AI optimism and smoking have already surfaced. Avi Schiffmann (아비 쉬프먼), founder of AI wearable startup Friend, previously told Business Insider, "By the time I get lung cancer, our AI robot will have already cured cancer." That suggests some people in the tech industry expect advances in AI to ultimately address smoking-related health risks as well.

In the interview, Sankar cited the smoking examples and criticised Silicon Valley's AI boom as "mass mental illness" and "social delusion." He said people who emphasise AI safety are treating artificial general intelligence (AGI) like a "machine god."

Sankar referred to philosopher Blaise Pascal's concept of a "God-shaped vacuum," and claimed that some people in Silicon Valley are filling that void with quasi-religious belief in AGI. He said it was important to understand that many people in Silicon Valley building the technology have filled an inner void with a machine god called AGI.