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p(doom) evidence — shared spine (hybrid time, C0–C10)

July 5, 2026

Evidence index · 中文 · Main post

Each section: Claim · Why · Evidence · Analogue · Would update if · Conf (H/M/L).


Parent: Shared Ci spine
Covers: Hybrid time rule, capability spine C0–C10 dating, cross-node synthesis table, shared method claims
Node-specific P’s: see node1node4


Hybrid time rule (locked: C)

P(method) — Fast track ≈ AI 2027 / METR for capabilities

Claim: Agent autonomy, METR horizon doubling, coding-agent revenue, internal RSI discourse track ~AI 2027 calendar or faster on some metrics.

Why: AI 2027 Tracker Jun 2026: agent autonomy Confirmed/Ahead; METR TH1.1 doubling ~89 days since 2024 (faster than AI 2027 implied ~131-day all-time). Claude Code / Opus 4.6 pulled AI Futures Model timelines 1.5–2 years earlier (Q1 2026 update).

Evidence:

Analogue: 2023–24 “unhobbling” step-change (chatbot → agent) matched Aschenbrenner OOM narrative timing.

Would update if: METR doubling reverts to >180 days for 4 consecutive frontier releases and agent revenue stalls → slow capability track to 0.85× or below.

Conf: M–H


P(method) — Slow track ≈ +30% for politics / public salience

Claim: Mass job shock, DC protests, mandatory screening enacted, NYT whistleblower mainstream cycle lag capability milestones by ~6–18 months vs AI 2027 drama calendar.

Why: Tracker Jun 2026: economic job-shock nodes Behind; governance protest Emerging not Confirmed; BMIA introduced Jan 2026 but not law; Kokotajlo/Saunders 2024 salience zero pause — policy follows coalitions slowly. COVID Western policy lag ~2–3 mo even for obvious tail risk ((internal note) uses this invariant).

Evidence:

  • (internal note) — Economic Behind on some predictions; governance protest Emerging
  • (internal note) — FLI letter zero effect; SB 1047 veto timeline
  • (internal note) — Canaries micro shock without macro collapse
  • Yale Budget Lab 2026 — no national AI unemployment spike 33 mo post-ChatGPT

Analogue: Y2K remediation preceded visible crisis by years; Montreal Protocol followed ozone hole discovery with ~2–3 yr treaty lag.

Would update if: Federal training moratorium or BMIA signed within 3 mo of a single capability headline → compress slow track to +10%.

Conf: M


P(method) — Anchor human nodes by Ci milestone, not AI 2027 plot beats

Claim: Node 3 (theft) binds to C5+, not Feb 2027; Node 4 binds to C10, not Oct 2027 memo.

Why: Weight exfiltration value scales with checkpoint worth (10²⁷–10²⁸ FLOP class); tracker has no public 10²⁸ yet → C5 late. Whistleblower policy effect in 2024 preceded C10 capability — we separate salience (early) from full Node 4 (C10 + Trigger E). AI 2027 is scenario color, not forecast calendar.

Evidence:

  • (internal note) — theft beat is narrative stress-test
  • (internal note) §timing
  • (internal note) — partial Node 4s 2024–26
  • (internal note) — SL3/S L4 upgrade lags capability

Analogue: Nuclear test ban debates lagged warhead design capability; policy anchors on deployed systems.

Would update if: Confirmed 10²⁸ run + weight theft attempt in 2027 → pull Node 3 forward to AI 2027 calendar.

Conf: M–H


Capability spine C0–C10 (tracker status claims)

CiClaim (2026-07)WhyEvidenceConf
C0Agents niche → mainstream ConfirmedOSWorld, coding agents, METR hours upTracker agent autonomy Confirmed; (internal note)H
C110²⁸ FLOP run Emerging, not publicEpoch frontier ~10²⁶·⁵–10²⁷; no lab confirmed 10²⁸(internal note) §Epoch; tracker C1 EmergingM–H
C21.5× R&D multiplier mixedInternal algo speedups real but hard to verify publiclyTracker economic/agent mixedL–M
C3China CDZ EmergingGeopolitical mobilization rhetoric ↑; hard to verify CDZ equivalentTracker geopolitics EmergingL–M
C4Junior labor shock partially live; protest BehindCanaries, Block, Challenger; no 10k DC marchNode 1 rationale; tracker economic Behind on someM
C5–C10Not yet testable / EmergingContinuous learning, neuralese, AGI announce, Agent-4 — no public confirmsTracker Not Yet Testable / EmergingM (for “not yet”)

Each Ci human-response node timing is derived in node-specific rationale files once capability trigger fires.


Cross-node synthesis table (modal path)

Phase: Now → 2027 Q1 (Node 1 partial + Node 2 insider)

Claim: Agents scale; junior hiring hurt; screening coalition forms without public bio panic.

Why: Node 1 triggers met (Canaries, Challenger); Node 2 insider salience met (Amodei Jun 2026, screendna, BMIA intro). Public CBRN salience still needs Trigger E (Node 2 rationale §Trigger E).

Evidence: node1 triggers; node2 insider timing; (internal note)

Conf: M–H


Phase: 2027 Q2 – 2028 (Node 1 peak + Node 2 modal)

Claim: Labor hearings + BMIA/EU screening likely; still no pause.

Why: Modal branch masses on Node 1 (P hearings 0.75) × Node 2 (P BMIA 0.45) with independence approximate — different coalitions (labor vs synthesis/natsec). Both oppose training caps (playbook: pause <5%).

Evidence: node1 modal; node2 BMIA §; (internal note) §Executive summary

p(doom) channel: ↓ P(coordinated pause); bio tail trimmed if modal Node 2 (screening) — conditional not automatic.

Conf: M


Phase: ~2028 (Node 3 at C5+)

Claim: Theft/natsec crisis; export controls; race accelerates.

Why: Modal Node 3: P(export expansion 0.70) × P(security spend 0.75); Anthropic RSI conditional pause needs verification not incident. Theft attempt base rate ~78% experts by 2030 (AI 2027 Security Forecast) but timing at C5+.

Evidence: node3; https://ai-2027.com/research/security-forecast; Fable export ban Jun 2026

Conf: M


Phase: ~2028 Q2–Q3 (Node 4 at C10)

Claim: Whistleblower → oversight not halt; P(extinction | E, modal) ~12–22%.

Why: Product of Node 4 branch (modal 0.58 given E) × conditional chain in node4 §34–37. Prior nodes raised race speed and lowered pause probability.

Evidence: node4; Saunders 2024, FLI 2023 analogues

Conf: L–M (wide conditional chain)


Shared method claims

P(method) — FLI pause letter → zero binding policy

Claim: Costless open letters do not move US law.

Why: 1000+ signers Mar 2023; no moratorium, no licensing; playbook documents zero policy effect; Cruz moratorium stripped 99–1 Jul 2025 shows anti-regulation floor also extreme but opposite direction.

Evidence: (internal note) §2.1; (internal note) §2023.03 FLI

Conf: H


P(method) — SB 1047 veto → SB 53 transparency survives

Claim: Industry kills ceilings; reporting survives with lab buy-in.

Why: Newsom veto Sep 2024; SB 53 signed Sep 2025 with Anthropic/Encode support; Wiener/Encode path documented in (internal note).

Evidence: Playbook §1.2; primer §2.4; node1 SB53 0.85

Conf: H


P(method) — 12–18 mo regulatory delay invariant

Claim: Even salient AI risks face quarter-to-year institutional lag unless Trigger E (incident/leak).

Why: COVID Jan–Mar 2020; OSTP 50bp paused; BMIA referred committee Jan 2026; RAISE effective 2027-01-01 for Dec 2025 sign — ~13 mo state example.

Evidence: Playbook; Node 2 TAIL-B 0.15; Node 4 media fatigue

Conf: M


  • README.md — full index
  • main forecast — consumes branch outputs