An Anthropic researcher has left the company with a stark warning: the race to build increasingly intelligent AI systems is moving too fast and could endanger humanity.
Jacob Coxon, a 27-year-old AI researcher who spent three years at Anthropic and previously worked at OpenAI, announced his resignation with a pointed critique of the industry’s direction. “Spent the last three years doing pretraining research at both OpenAI and Anthropic. Neither company is acting responsibly. They are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives,” Coxon said.
He added that the people building and training AI systems privately believe “It could kill us by the end of the decade,” even if they soften their language in public statements. The warning highlights a growing divide between public reassurances and private concerns among AI insiders.
Coxon’s departure comes as Anthropic, OpenAI, and other major players push their models forward at breakneck speed. The competitive pressure is immense: no company wants to fall behind rivals, and better AI promises more users, more business, and more revenue. But Coxon urged the public not to underestimate the technology’s potential. “These will soon be superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionize any field overnight, and acquire real power and resources,” he warned.
The AI race is now deeply tied to massive business objectives. Companies are racing to release better models and new products before competitors do. Slowing down can feel like a losing strategy when rivals keep accelerating. However, this speed-first mentality raises serious safety concerns. When speed becomes more important than caution, safety checks struggle to keep up with rapid progress, and powerful systems may be launched before all risks are fully understood.
Coxon’s warning underscores that unease about AI’s trajectory is not limited to outsiders or critics. Some of the very researchers building these systems are deeply worried. AI holds enormous promise, but the industry must balance innovation with responsibility. As Coxon’s exit makes clear, the stakes could not be higher.









