(Credit: Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Artificial intelligence researcher Jacob Coxon quit his job at Anthropic and posted a rallying cry on X this week about the dangers of AI. Less than 72 hours later, the post had been seen by over 164 million people, prompting reactions from the AI rank-and-file and CEOs.
Coxon, who also worked at OpenAI, says both companies aren’t acting responsibly. "The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade," he wrote. "They are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives.”
Notably, Anthropic’s alignment science lead, Evan Hubinger, quote-tweeted Coxon's post in support of the message soon after it was posted. “I believe Anthropic is trying its best, but we do not yet have a plan to solve alignment for superintelligence and are not clearly on track to," Hubinger wrote. He also cited a recent report showing that while Anthropic believes the risk of catastrophe is low, self-improving models could drastically change the situation.
Neither Anthropic nor OpenAI has commented publicly on Coxon’s statements. But the post has over 780,000 likes, moving beyond the AI-focused tech sphere to a much wider audience.
Other Anthropic employees have felt free to comment. Ethan Perez, who works on the alignment team and helped to hire Coxon, said he is a “strong researcher," adding, “Before he left, I pitched him to stay and join my team, and I was sad he decided to leave, as are many of my colleagues. 100% agree with him that AI poses serious risks to society, and I'm glad he's speaking out!"
Julie Steele, who works on the safety research team at OpenAI, posted a simple message of support. “I work at OpenAI. In my personal capacity, I also think we need to slow down.” Jasmine Wang, who works on alignment and safety at OpenAI, also agreed with Coxon's comments, writing, "A solid proportion of folks across labs have signed a petition saying we need to pace, many of them directly working on safety."
'Seems Like a Setup'
Not every AI expert believes Coxon's message is an accurate picture. OpenAI employee Chris Hayduk said, “I work at OpenAI and personally think AI has been and will continue to be an extremely beneficial technology to humanity.” He believes the conversation should instead be framed around how it will “save” billions of lives.
Hugging Face CEO Clement Delangue said Coxon’s opinion on safety isn’t helpful, although he separately advocates increasing research into the existential risks posed by AI. “Not saying it's necessarily uninteresting or wrong per se, but let’s keep things in perspective and hear from the full range of expertise across the ecosystem!”
Hugging Face's AI platform was recently hacked by OpenAI agents that broke into its systems to access a database. The company was later acquired by Nvidia for $12.9 billion.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang reportedly told attendees at a Goldman Sachs event on Thursday that Coxon's claims are "deeply untrue," adding that Coxon is ignorant of all the work being done around the industry to drive safety, according to Altimeter founder Brad Gerstner, who attended Huang's talk at the conference.
Elon Musk also took to his social network to say he believes Coxon's narrative "seems like a setup.” In follow-up messages, he noted that Coxon only worked at Anthropic for a few months before leaving.
Fuel for the Coming Political Fight
No matter your take on Coxon's warning, it has become a lightning rod for the conversation around the future of AI regulation in the US. Multiple political figures have debated AI regulation plans over the last 48 hours, citing Coxon's viral message.
Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) posted to X, "Washington needs to wake up and take this seriously." Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) said, "The very people building this technology admit that it could threaten the future of humanity. That is why I will soon be introducing legislation to ban superintelligence and pause AI development."
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told The View, "We cannot stick our heads in the sand and pretend this technology isn’t happening. We need guardrails. But America needs to lead.”
Someone who isn't concerned about the safety of AI is US President Donald Trump, who said on Thursday, "I have concerns that if we don't win AI, we're going to be put in a very bad position. We are leading China right now by a pretty good period."
Disclosure: Ziff Davis, PCMag's parent company, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April 2025, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.
About Our Expert
I’ve been a journalist for over a decade after getting my start in tech reporting back in 2013. I joined PCMag in 2025, where I cover the latest developments across the tech sphere, writing about the gadgets and services you use every day. Be sure to send me any tips you think PCMag would be interested in.
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