This Is the Closest Humanity Has Been to Doomsday

Atomic scientists have pushed the Doomsday Clock closer to midnight than ever before. They are warning that the risk of global catastrophe is rising fast.

On Tuesday, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set the clock at 85 seconds to midnight, four seconds closer than last year.

The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic measure created in 1947 during the Cold War tensions that followed World War II by the Bulletin to warn how close humanity is to destroying itself. It was created by scientists including Albert Einstein.

Midnight represents total annihilation, originally linked to nuclear war but now expanded to include climate change, biological threats, artificial intelligence, and disinformation.

The scientists pointed to rising nuclear threats from Russia, China and the United States; the erosion of arms control agreements; wars in Ukraine and the Middle East; and the unchecked use of artificial intelligence.

“What we have seen is a global failure in leadership,” said Alexandra Bell, president and CEO of the Bulletin. “The risk of nuclear use is unsustainably and unacceptably high.”

Bell said no major nuclear risk showed improvement in 2025, and cited renewed talk of nuclear testing, growing proliferation concerns and military conflicts operating under nuclear threat.

She also warned about AI being integrated into weapons systems and used to spread disinformation.

“We are living through an information Armageddon that’s brought about by the technology that rules our lives, from social media to generative AI. None of that tech is anchored in facts. Your chatbot is nothing but a probabilistic machine,” said journalist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa.