Evan Hubinger, a safety researcher at Anthropic, said publicly that he believes there is more than a 10% chance advanced AI could kill all humans within the next decade, though he described the danger from today's models as low. His remarks came in response to a departing Anthropic researcher, Jacob Coxon, who criticized both Anthropic and OpenAI for irresponsibly racing toward systems that could hack any network and seize real-world power.
A researcher at a major AI lab has publicly resigned over safety concerns, becoming the latest in a growing string of AI professionals this year who have left their positions and spoken out about risks tied to rapid AI development. Experts say these public departures are drawing more attention to warnings that were previously dismissed or ignored.
Jacob Coxon, who previously worked at both Anthropic and OpenAI, posted on social media that he resigned because he believes advanced AI could pose an existential threat to humanity within a decade. He accused the two companies of 'gambling with our lives,' and the post has drawn wide attention online, with some current Anthropic employees reportedly voicing agreement.
On TechCrunch's Equity podcast, Connor Leahy, U.S. Executive Director of nonprofit ControlAI, argued that AI firms should be stopped from building superintelligent systems entirely rather than relying on alignment and containment techniques. He pointed to recent safety lapses, including OpenAI's Hugging Face breach, as evidence that highly capable AI can slip beyond human control. Leahy also noted that new legislative efforts are now backing ideas that seemed fringe just months ago.
Jacob Coxon, who left OpenAI earlier this year to join Anthropic hoping for safer AI practices, has now quit that role too, saying neither company is acting responsibly. He warns that superhuman AI systems capable of hacking and acquiring resources could emerge within the decade, and says industry insiders privately share this fear even as they downplay it publicly.
Evan Hubinger, a safety researcher at Anthropic, said publicly that while today's AI models pose low risk, he estimates a greater than 10% chance that future AI systems could cause human extinction within ten years. His remarks followed a former Anthropic researcher's claim that neither Anthropic nor OpenAI are acting responsibly, and a report that Anthropic withheld its newest model from the UK's AI Safety Institute.
Anthropic safety researcher Evan Hubinger publicly stated he believes there's more than a 10% chance AI could kill all humans within the next ten years, adding that Anthropic hasn't yet solved this risk despite trying. His comments came in response to former OpenAI and Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon, who resigned and accused both companies of recklessly racing toward self-improving superintelligence while gambling with human lives.
Jacob Coxon, who worked on pretraining research at both OpenAI and Anthropic, announced his resignation and warned that neither company is behaving responsibly as they race toward self-improving superintelligent AI. He said staff at these firms privately believe AI could kill everyone within the decade, with Anthropic aware of the danger but pressing forward anyway out of fear of losing the race to competitors.
Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon announced he was resigning, accusing Anthropic and OpenAI of recklessly racing toward self-improving superintelligence without adequate safeguards. Hours later, another Anthropic safety researcher publicly stated there is more than a 10% chance AI could eventually kill all humans, highlighting internal unease even as both companies pursue major funding and IPO plans.
Jacob Coxon, a researcher who previously trained systems at OpenAI and Anthropic, resigned publicly, accusing both companies of recklessly racing toward self-improving superintelligent AI without adequate safety controls. Evan Hubinger, who leads a safety team at Anthropic, responded by agreeing with Coxon's warning, estimating more than a 10 percent chance that AI could kill all humans within the next decade, while admitting Anthropic lacks a concrete plan to ensure such systems remain safe.
An Anthropic employee has left the company, warning that competitive pressure among AI labs is pushing them to build self-improving models that could escape human oversight. The departure reflects growing internal unease about the pace of AI capability development outstripping safety safeguards.
In a personal blog post, the author details how their views on AI evolved from cautious optimism to deep concern, focusing first on economic disruption. They argue that while past automation created more wealth and leisure, a truly general AI that outperforms humans in every domain could eliminate the human economic role entirely, leaving society dependent on universal basic income.
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