Doomsday Clock Set to 85 Seconds as Arms-Control Guardrails Fall

Overview

• The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set the clock to 85 seconds to midnight on Jan. 27, the closest reading on record and four seconds closer than in 2025.
• Leaders point to intensified nuclear dangers, noting three 2025 conflicts involving nuclear-armed states and the expiration this week of New START, which removes caps on U.S. and Russian strategic arsenals.
• The assessment flags AI’s potential to supercharge disinformation and urges maintaining meaningful human control over nuclear launch authority, while also warning that laboratory-created “mirror life” could pose an extreme bio-risk without global safeguards.
• The Bulletin criticizes the proposed U.S. “Golden Dome” missile-defense architecture with space-based interceptors, warning it could ignite a space-focused arms race.
• Reaction is divided: outlets like CounterPunch amplify the warnings, while a Spectator column argues the clock is politicized and cites U.S. officials’ claims that strikes on Iranian nuclear sites set the program back by up to two years.