Nuclear Risks & the 2026 Doomsday Clock 🕰️

Bulletin Science and Security Board member Jon B. Wolfsthal discusses the nuclear weapons issues that factored into the 2026 Doomsday Clock decision.

Wolfsthal is currently the US nuclear weapon policy fellow at PAX sapiens. He was previously the director of global risk at the Federation of American Scientists and was a former national security affairs special assistant to US President Barack Obama.

On January 27, 2026, the Doomsday Clock was set at 85 seconds to midnight, the closest the Clock has ever been to midnight in its history. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Science and Security Board, which sets the Clock, called for urgent action to limit nuclear arsenals, create international guidelines on the use of AI, and form multilateral agreements to address global biological threats.

You can read their statement here: https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/2026-statement/
Additionally, you can read the sidebar on nuclear risk here: https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/2026-statement/nuclear-risk/

Timestamps:
00:00 - 00:23: What is the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists?
00:24 - 02:15: Setting the Doomsday Clock
02:16 - 03:52: Current state of nuclear risk
03:53 - 05:04: An era of nuclear instability?
05:05 - 06:37: Nuclear weapons testing - what is the threat?
06:38 - 07:42: Greater risk for nuclear conflict today?
07:43 - 09:23: North Korea?
09:24 - 10:59: Concern about other nations getting nuclear weapons
11:00 - 12:34: Chinese nuclear stockpile
12:35 - 14:20: New AI developments that cause concern?
14:21 - 15:51: As AI is integrated into society, are we going to lose our ability to supervise it?
15:52 - 17:54: Moving the Clock backwards?