What people at SF's largest tech conference are actually worried about (Hint: Not an AI takeover)

Attendees arrive at Salesforce's Dreamforce conference in San Francisco on September 15, 2026.

Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images Fears about AI's catastrophic risks exploded into the mainstream online this week.

On the ground at the Dreamforce 2026 conference, attendees weren't at all concerned.

People have other worries about AI beyond the hypothetical of existential danger.

I decided to hit the pavement at Salesforce's gigantic Dreamforce conference to ask tech-minded people about AI's catastrophic risk.

Turns out, it's not all AI gloom and doom — that's only if you're looking online.

Last week, Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon announced he was resigning from the company, saying that AI labs are "gambling with our lives." Debates about an AI-led apocalypse proliferated across the internet, and the leaders of Anthropic and OpenAI posted at length about new safety measures.

Around two-thirds of Americans now think there's at least a moderate chance that AI will destroy humanity, a Politico poll taken this week found.

It can be hard to tell, though.

On Tuesday at Dreamforce, I asked some attendees about their so-called "p(doom)," or where they place the probability that AI will cause a major catastrophe.

As I navigated a flood of attendees in suits and lanyards, people told me they were worried about AI but not about an apocalypse.

Instead, they're concerned about other issues, such as impacts on labor, mental health, and the environment.

Dean Levita, a local tech worker attending the conference, said he was mostly unconcerned about an AI-driven extinction.

Being aware about catastrophic risks isn't the same as thinking they're right around the corner, he said, likening earthquake warnings from his lifetime in the Bay Area to the discussion about AI risk.