Palantir CTO says some AI researchers are taking up smoking because they expect AI to cure cancer

Palantir's CTO Shyam Sankar said taking up smoking has become a way for AI researchers to show how much they believe in AI.

Tom Brenner/Bloomberg via Getty Images Some AI researchers are picking up cigarettes, Palantir's CTO said.

Why? They think AI is going to cure cancer anyway, Shyam Sankar said.

Lighting up is their way of showing others that their AI "chips are all in," he said.

Forget sleepmaxxing and cold plunging: smoking is the new lifestyle flex among AI researchers.

At least, that's according to Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar , who said some AI researchers are taking up smoking to signal their belief that AI will eventually cure cancer .

"So many AI researchers have started smoking as a way of signaling to other researchers how much they believe in AI," Sankar said in an interview on CBS News' "Face the Nation" on Sunday.

The logic, he said, is: "I believe so much in AI that it's going to cure cancer.

So I'm showing you my chips are all in." Sankar did not name any researchers or provide evidence for the claim.

Smoking remains a major cause of preventable illness and death, and no AI breakthrough has eliminated the health risks associated with cigarettes.

But the Palantir executive's remarks echo a countercurrent already visible in parts of the tech industry.

As Business Insider's Henry Chandonnet reported last month, a small group of founders, engineers, and investors has embraced cigarettes in a sector otherwise known for optimizing their health with cold plunges, sleep tracking, and peptide treatments .

For some of them, a cigarette break is an opportunity to meet people and network.

For others, it's a way to come across as more relaxed and less polished than the typical startup founder.