WPP’ s CAIO discusses neuromorphic computing at Conscium, the agent verification crisis, and why his 40-year timeline for superintelligence has collapsed
THE AI INTERVIEW
WPP’ s CAIO discusses neuromorphic computing at Conscium, the agent verification crisis, and why his 40-year timeline for superintelligence has collapsed
Daniel Hulme thought he had 40 years to prepare for superintelligence, but that timeline has collapsed. The Chief AI Officer at WPP and founder of companies Conscium and Satalia now works under the assumption that machines capable of outthinking humans by orders of magnitude will arrive within the decade, which raises an uncomfortable question: would humanity be safer with a superintelligence that can experience the full range of human emotions, including pain?
“ I thought we had 40 years before superintelligence came along,” he says.“ Now, I don’ t think we have 40 years to solve that problem. So the question that I’ m really asking myself now is: can we – and should we – build a conscious superintelligence?”
It runs counter to most AI safety thinking, but Daniel argues that consciousness might work as a safety mechanism. A machine that understands suffering might show restraint where a“ zombie superintelligence”, as he describes, might not. Conscium, which he started 18 months ago, has two objectives: building neuromorphic computing
28 January 2026