Tech Explained: Here’s a simplified explanation of the latest technology update around Tech Explained: Dex Hunter-Torricke launches AI policy nonprofit in Simple Termsand what it means for users..
Dex Hunter-Torricke, a former senior communications executive at SpaceX, Facebook, Google, Google DeepMind, and the United Nations, has launched The Center for Tomorrow, a new UK-based nonprofit focused on what he describes as the systemic risks and governance gaps emerging in the age of advanced AI.
Announcing the launch on LinkedIn, Hunter-Torricke wrote: “Today I’m launching The Center for Tomorrow, a new global nonprofit dedicated to one purpose: reclaiming the future for societies in the age of AI.”
He framed the initiative as a response to what he sees as a lack of coordinated planning for AI’s economic, political, and environmental consequences. “What I found after nearly two decades searching for answers in those rooms, is that we are dramatically unprepared for what is coming,” he wrote.
“AI, the most powerful technology in history, is arriving into a world already buckling under economic inequality, democratic erosion, geopolitical fragmentation, and climate breakdown. These crises are not separate. They are deeply interconnected. And AI will amplify every single one of them.” He added: “I also found something else: there is no plan.”
From Big Tech to public policy
Hunter-Torricke left his most recent role as Head of Global Communications & Marketing at Google DeepMind in October 2025. In his longer Substack essay published alongside the launch, he wrote: “After nearly two decades watching it up close, I have reached a conclusion I can no longer keep to myself: we are not prepared for the world that is coming, and the path we are currently on leads to disaster.”
He argued that AI represents a general-purpose shift in cognitive capability that will reshape labor markets, geopolitical power, and climate trajectories simultaneously. In the Substack piece, he described AI as “the most powerful general-purpose technology in human history” and wrote that it is “arriving not into a stable, well-governed world but into one already ablaze with interlocking crises.”
He also highlighted the scale of current AI investment, writing that four US tech giants are planning to spend up to $670 billion on AI infrastructure this year alone, calling it “a civilizational wager.”
The new nonprofit, according to its overview, will focus on building “rigorous, interdisciplinary research and practical solutions” and developing frameworks that treat AI not as a narrow technical issue but as a broader societal transformation.
Focus on economic models, global governance, and climate
Hunter-Torricke outlined three core areas of concern: economic disruption, geopolitical instability, and climate breakdown.
On labor markets, he wrote that AI is “a general substitute for cognitive work” and argues that existing safety nets are not equipped for the scale of potential displacement. He suggested that AI-driven economic surpluses should be redistributed through mechanisms including progressive taxation and, in some contexts, Universal Basic Income.
On geopolitics, he warned of what he described as an emerging “techno-colonialism,” where access to compute and AI systems becomes a new axis of global power. On climate, he added that projected AI-driven economic growth risks increasing global energy consumption, arguing that AI deployment must be linked directly to decarbonization and adaptation strategies.
The Center for Tomorrow says it will not accept funding from Big Tech companies. Hunter-Torricke wrote: “We accept no funding from Big Tech companies. They have more than enough say on the issues. Now it’s your turn.”
Beyond research, the organization says it plans to build a global community and run leadership programs, scenario simulations, and workshops designed to prepare policymakers, executives, and civil society actors for AI-driven change. Hunter-Torricke wrote: “It is essential that vastly more people and communities get a voice in building the future. We cannot allow a tiny handful of companies and leaders to decide the fate of our societies.”
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