Doom Debates is a podcast and debate show hosted by Liron Shapira focused on high-stakes debates about AI existential risk. Its mission is to raise mainstream awareness of potential extinction from AGI and build social infrastructure for high-quality public discourse on the topic.
Doom Debates is a podcast and debate show hosted by Liron Shapira focused on high-stakes debates about AI existential risk. Its mission is to raise mainstream awareness of potential extinction from AGI and build social infrastructure for high-quality public discourse on the topic.
People
Updated 05/18/26Host
Producer
Funding Details
Updated 05/18/26- Annual Budget
- $100,000
- Current Runway
- -
- Funding Goal
- -
- Funding Raised to Date
- -
Org Details
Updated 05/18/26Doom Debates is a podcast and YouTube debate show created and hosted by Liron Shapira, a software entrepreneur with a computer science background who has studied AI safety extensively. The show launched in June 2024 and focuses on structured, high-stakes debates about artificial intelligence existential risk, particularly the probability that unaligned superintelligent AI could cause human extinction (quantified as 'P(Doom)'). The show features debates and interviews with prominent figures in AI safety, technology, and related fields. Notable guests have included Eliezer Yudkowsky, Max Tegmark, Vitalik Buterin, George Hotz, Robin Hanson, Noah Smith, and many others. Episodes are released semiweekly and are available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and via the Doom Debates Substack at lironshapira.substack.com. The recurring segment 'What's Your P(Doom)?' invites guests to share their personal probability estimate of AI-caused extinction. The team consists of Liron Shapira as host and founder, and Ori Nagel as full-time producer (previously from ControlAI's media team), along with occasional interns. The show operates from a professional studio. Annual operating costs exceed $100,000, funded primarily through viewer donations and YouTube ad revenue. Doom Debates is a fiscally sponsored project of Manifund.org, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, enabling tax-deductible donations. Viewers can support the show through Substack subscriptions ($10/month) or as 'Mission Partners' with one-time or recurring donations of $1,000 or more. As of early 2026, the show has grown to approximately 150,000 YouTube subscribers, with an audience that is approximately 80% from the US, UK, and Canada. The show has also held live debate events such as 'Doom Debates Live @ Manifest 2025.'
Theory of Change
Updated 05/18/26Doom Debates operates on the theory that mainstream public awareness of AI extinction risk is critically low, and that high-quality, high-profile debate is the most effective lever for changing that. By hosting structured debates between credible thinkers on both sides of the P(doom) question, the show creates social accountability — making it professionally costly for prominent figures to dismiss AI extinction risk without substantive engagement. Growing the show's subscriber base is treated as a direct proxy for reducing P(doom), since broader public awareness increases pressure on policymakers and developers to take AI safety seriously. The show also aims to build 'social infrastructure' for ongoing discourse, serving as a permanent forum for these debates as AI capabilities advance.
Grants Received– no grants recorded
Updated 05/18/26Projects– no linked projects
Updated 05/18/26Discussion
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.