AI companies are pushing fear narratives because scared users are profitable users. When people think AI will take their jobs or destroy humanity, they rush to buy AI tools to 'stay ahead' or demand regulation that locks in big players. Fear drives clicks, funding rounds, and regulatory moats. Classic playbook: create the problem, sell the solution. Meanwhile, the actual tech is just probabilistic text prediction and pattern matching, not Skynet. The hype cycle needs existential dread to justify billion-dollar valuations.