# Wealth Fear and Speed Distort AI Risk Judgment by David Robinson > “Potential wealth is a strong incentive to reason that the systems either are fine or are going to be fine. Fear is another factor, because the possible harm is so large that it is difficult to let oneself imagine the risk is real. Time is a third factor: after years of one Slack ping after another, I only began to reflect on where the technology needed to end up when I stepped back from operational responsibilities.” > **— David Robinson**, *The Ezra Klein Show, October 7, 2026* ## Sources and Context - **Official episode:** [“This Is Nuts.” An OpenAI Insider Explains Why He Quit](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-is-nuts-an-openai-insider-explains-why-he-quit/id1548604447?i=1000793623910) — publisher-hosted episode identifying Robinson as Klein's guest and preserving the complete conversation. - **Publisher transcript:** [David Robinson on OpenAI safety and why he quit](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/06/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-david-robinson.html) — official *New York Times* episode page and transcript route. - **Timecoded source object:** [[research/David Robinson on OpenAI Safety, Superintelligence, and the Transhumanist Transition|David Robinson on OpenAI Safety, Superintelligence, and the Transhumanist Transition]], **41:38** — reconciled from the supplied complete YouTube auto-caption transcript and kept in broadcast order. - **Editorial treatment:** Verbal filler, stutters and transcript punctuation are normalized for reading; the quotation remains one contiguous source object and does not join different turns. - **Context:** In this portion of the conversation, Robinson addresses the organizational speed and incentives shaping frontier deployment. The complete premise, mechanism and consequence are retained so the statement remains intelligible apart from the episode. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/We Cannot Un-Strike the Match|We Cannot Un-Strike the Match]] - **Article:** [[articles/Safety Discourse Is Transition Discourse|Safety Discourse Is Transition Discourse]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Immediate AI Risk Is the Public|The Immediate AI Risk Is the Public]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/David Robinson|David Robinson]] - [[wiki/Incentive Distortion|Incentive Distortion]] - [[wiki/OpenAI|OpenAI]] - [[wiki/AI Safety Culture|AI Safety Culture]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “Potential wealth is a strong incentive to reason that the systems either are fine or are going to be fine. Fear is another factor, because the possible harm is so large that it is difficult to let oneself imagine the risk is real. Time is a third factor: after years of one Slack ping after another, I only began to reflect on where the technology needed to end up when I stepped back from operational responsibilities.” — David Robinson, The Ezra Klein Show, October 7, 2026 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-david-robinson-wealth-fear-and-speed-distort-ai-risk-judgment ```