Exactly what kind of clout do you think he has? What kind of audience? He's a local celeb here on HN, and more broadly a somewhat prominent figure in tech circl

Exactly what kind of clout do you think he has? What kind of audience? He's a local celeb here on HN, and more broadly a somewhat prominent figure in tech circles, but he's not Bill Gates. Certainly he isn't the kind of guy to get a slot on CNN and further, if he did, he wouldn't be taken seriously. While I get your point (why hide a prediction that could have saved lives?), I think you're overly idealistic about what impact this same prediction would have had if released publicly at the time.