Overview
- The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists advanced the clock from 90 to 85 seconds to midnight in its latest annual update.
- Assessors cited heightened nuclear peril, insufficient climate action, accelerated AI and biological capabilities, and eroding international cooperation driven by autocratic trends.
- Noted 2025 drivers included the fourth year of the Russia–Ukraine war with Russian nuclear-capable tests, intensifying India–Pakistan hostilities, U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, North Korean advances, and China’s expanding arsenal.
- Bulletin leaders, including CEO Alexandra Bell and Science and Security Board chair Daniel Holz, urged urgent policy steps to reduce nuclear risks, speed clean-energy transitions, and set guardrails for emerging technologies.
- Supporters view the clock as a public warning, while critics call it a subjective publicity device; the gauge has ranged as far as 17 minutes from midnight after Cold War arms reductions.