January 28, 2025 – WASHINGTON, D.C.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Science and Security Board (SASB) has set the Doomsday Clock at 89 seconds to midnight, marking the closest it has ever been in its 78-year history. This historic adjustment underscores the alarming trajectory of global risks and highlights the urgent need for immediate, collective action to avert catastrophe.
The Bulletin attributes this precarious position to mounting nuclear threats, the worsening climate crisis, emerging biological risks, and the destabilizing potential of disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence. The 2025 update follows the previous change in January 2023, when the Clock was set at 90 seconds to midnight.
The responsibility to reverse this dangerous course lies primarily with global powers such as the United States, China, and Russia. Their leadership is critical to pulling humanity back from the brink and securing a safer future.
The SASB sets the Clock’s time in collaboration with the Bulletin’s Board of Sponsors, which includes nine Nobel Laureates. This symbolic timepiece serves as a stark reminder of the urgent actions needed to address these existential threats.
The world stands at a crossroads. The time to act is now.
Released by: Science and Security Board, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists