Bulletin of Atomic Scientists Keeps Doomsday Clock at Record 85 Seconds to Midnight Over Nuclear, Climate, Bio and AI Risks
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists kept the Doomsday Clock at a record 85 seconds to midnight—closer than ever and moved from last year’s 89 seconds—citing escalating risks from nuclear weapons, climate change, biological threats and artificial intelligence. The group blamed rising great‑power competition and nationalistic autocracies, leaders’ complacency and aggressive rhetoric for undermining cooperation, and pointed to specific dangers including the Russia–Ukraine war, May’s India–Pakistan clash and Iran‑related concerns after U.S. and Israeli strikes, U.S. policies boosting fossil fuels, and the misuse or lack of regulation of AI and biotechnology.
📌 Key Facts
- The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set the 2026 Doomsday Clock at 85 seconds to midnight — the closest it has ever been to midnight, moved from 89 seconds in 2025.
- The group said the clock reflects a confluence of existential risks: nuclear war, climate change, the misuse of artificial intelligence, and unregulated biotechnology.
- The Bulletin cited recent specific nuclear concerns beyond Ukraine, including May’s India–Pakistan conflict and worries about Iran’s nuclear capability after U.S. and Israeli strikes, in addition to the Russia–Ukraine war.
- It criticized Russia, China, the United States and other powers for becoming increasingly aggressive, adversarial and nationalistic, describing current competition as a 'winner‑takes‑all' great‑power dynamic and saying hard‑won global understandings are collapsing.
- Science and Security Board chair Daniel Holz warned that the rise of nationalistic autocracies and an 'us‑versus‑them' world undermines needed cooperation; the Bulletin also said world leaders have grown complacent and indifferent and that some provocative rhetoric increases catastrophic risk.
- The Bulletin said there was a brief 'glimmer of hope' in early 2025 when incoming President Trump spoke about halting the Russia–Ukraine war and 'denuclearization,' but that those positive signs were overtaken by negative trends over the year.
- On climate risk, the Bulletin explicitly singled out President Trump’s efforts to boost fossil fuels and hinder renewable energy as contributing to increasing climate danger.
📰 Source Timeline (3)
Follow how coverage of this story developed over time
January 27, 2026
8:58 PM
'Doomsday Clock' ticks closer to midnight amid threats from AI, climate change and nuclear war
New information:
- Confirms the 2026 setting as 85 seconds to midnight and frames it as 'closer than it's ever been to destruction,' advancing from last year’s 89 seconds.
- Quotes Daniel Holz emphasizing that collapsing 'hard-won global understandings' and a 'winner-takes-all' great‑power competition are driving risk.
- Explicitly singles out U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to boost fossil fuels and hinder renewable energy as part of the climate‑risk rationale.
- Adds specific nuclear‑risk references beyond Ukraine, citing May’s India–Pakistan conflict and concerns over Iran’s nuclear capability after U.S. and Israeli strikes.
- Reiterates that AI misuse and unregulated biotechnology are now core components of the Bulletin’s existential‑risk calculus.
7:45 PM
'Doomsday Clock' ticks closer to midnight over global threats, group says
New information:
- This Fox piece foregrounds the Bulletin’s criticism that Russia, China, the United States and other powers have become 'increasingly aggressive, adversarial, and nationalistic.'
- It quotes the 2026 statement that 'hard-won global understandings are collapsing' and describes current competition as 'winner-takes-all great power competition.'
- It emphasizes the group’s charge that world leaders have grown 'complacent and indifferent' and that some rhetoric itself raises the risk of catastrophe.
- It notes that the Bulletin initially saw a 'glimmer of hope' in early 2025 when incoming President Trump talked about halting the Russia–Ukraine war and 'denuclearization,' but says those positive signs were overtaken by 'negative trends' over the year.
- It includes a fresh quote from Science and Security Board chair Daniel Holz tying rising risks to 'the rise of nationalistic autocracies' and warning that an 'us versus them' world undermines needed cooperation.