What Is Superintelligence? A History, Plus What the 2026 Evidence Shows

This second edition of What Is Superintelligence? opens with a new chapter on a question the first edition could not cover: what an independent evaluation published on November 5, 2026 found about AI systems speeding up AI research.

That chapter walks through METR's "Independent Assessment of AI R&D Acceleration at Anthropic in October 2026," including METR's own caveats and the primary source, and it is the free sample you can read before you buy. The rest of the book then explains, in plain English, what superintelligence means, how it differs from the AI and artificial general intelligence already in the headlines, where the idea came from, and how to read AI forecasts without treating any one date as a fact.

Measured length: 18,000+ narrative words (headings, prompt boxes and the source list excluded) and 85 pages at 6x9 paperback. Price: $5.99 ebook.

Inside you will find:

• A new opening chapter on the November 5, 2026 METR assessment, with the primary report cited
• A clear definition of AI, artificial general intelligence and superintelligence
• The history of the idea, rewritten for this edition, from early warnings to the labs that now use the word
• What changed in public argument in 2025 and 2026
• A short guide to reading the next headline, including AI forecasts that miss

Facts and quotations are checked against dated sources, listed at the back. This book is not financial, legal or career advice.

Unofficial, not affiliated with METR, Anthropic, or any other lab, company or publisher named in this book.

This book is AI-generated, then edited and fact-checked by the publisher against those dated sources.