An artificial intelligence researcher who quit the AI firm Anthropic has warned that industry professionals are “genuinely frightened” about the rapid speed of technological progress. Jacob Coxon, 27, spoke to after his online resignation post highlighting the existential dangers of AI went viral amid mounting safety concerns across the sector.
“I believe that if we don’t slow down at the current rate of progress, there is a strong chance that we could all die in the immediate future,” Coxon said, adding plainly that “there is a possibility of human extinction.” The former employee, who previously worked at OpenAI before joining Anthropic, urged global action to manage the threat.
The 27-year-old’s former boss, Anthropic head Dario Amodei, recently called for AI development to slow down, though some critics have questioned the underlying motivations. In an essay, Amodei stated that while advancing the technology is not in doubt, the associated risks are “serious,” and that governments and companies need time to properly address them.
This call for deceleration has found support from rival industry leaders. The bosses of two competing firms, Sam Altman of OpenAI and Elon Musk of xAI, have both agreed with Amodei’s proposal for industry-wide slowdowns, regulation, and independent monitoring of AI model development.
Coxon welcomed these proposals but emphasized to Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that any deceleration must be coordinated with China to prevent “a race at an international scale.” He explained: “The people who work at these companies are completely serious when they ask for regulation because they find themselves trapped in a race. And they’re scared of the outcomes of that race.”
