- Published
Each September, a who's who of executives from across Silicon Valley descends on San Francisco's Palace Hotel to charm investors at a conference hosted by the investment bank Goldman Sachs.
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who → publish → bank
This past week, between talk of growth and potential returns, tech titans found themselves addressing the abrupt resignation of Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon.
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themselves → find → Coxon
Coxon, a 27-year-old who worked at OpenAI before joining its chief rival Anthropic, said on Tuesday that people building artificial intelligence (AI) believed the technology could destroy humanity.
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technology → work → humanity
They are "gambling with our lives", he said, "these will soon be superhuman systems that can hack anything".
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that → gamble → anything
Coxon is by no means the first AI insider to publicly sound the alarm.
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Coxon → sound → alarm
There have been a string of high-profile resignations from both Anthropic and OpenAI in recent years over apparent safety concerns, and some current Anthropic employees even echoed Coxon's post.
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employees → echo → post
"We really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans!
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AI → believe → humans
I personally think it is >10% within the next decade," a team lead at Anthropic, Evan Hubinger, posted on X.
While Coxon said explicitly in his posts that his warnings were "not marketing", some executives and investors in Silicon Valley have reacted with scepticism to a recent flurry of insiders sounding the alarm.
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executives → think → alarm
Anthropic and OpenAI are reportedly preparing for potentially record-setting initial public offerings, and some in the tech sector have suggested the latest stark comments about the dangers of AI may be designed to generate hype by signalling the power of these products.
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comments → prepare → products
Anthropic's boss, Dario Amodei, has come under fire for saying AI technology could wipe out half of entry-level white-collar jobs and will "test who we are as a species".
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we → come → species
One conference speaker, Grindr chief executive George Arison, told the BBC he believed this week's comments from Coxon and others were indicative of an "anti-civilisational worldview at Anthropic".
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comments → tell → Anthropic
He called them "dangerous" and said they had prompted him to instruct some engineers at the LGBTQ+ dating app to stop using Anthropic's technology.
"It is irresponsible for us as stewards of our shareholders' money to be relying on a business that does what this company does, in terms of its public statements," he said.
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he → call → statements
"Maybe they actually believe it," Arison said.
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Arison → believe → it
"Or you could argue they're saying it because it's a great way to gin up more investor support, because the only way to justify these valuations is to actually claim: 'I'm going to take over every industry and I'm going to take over every job, and my AI is going to be doing all that work.'
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AI → argue → work
"
Anthropic was valued at $965bn (£713bn) in its most recent fundraising round earlier this year.
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Anthropic → value → round
The BBC has asked Anthropic for a response to the statements.
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BBC → ask → statements
In an essay posted early on Saturday, Amodei called for a slowing of AI model development and global regulation - and said the risks associated with AI were "serious".
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risks → post → AI
Nvidia boss Jensen Huang also discussed Coxon's comments before a crowd at the conference, multiple people in the group told the BBC.
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people → discuss → BBC
They said he dismissed them as untrue.
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he → say → them
Huang has previously said the notion that AI "is going to be the end of humanity" is "complete nonsense".
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AI → say → humanity
And while he may have a business interest in an AI boom - Nvidia builds chips that power AI systems - his comments reflect a growing backlash in Silicon Valley to the existential warnings from current and former staffers.
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comments → have → staffers
Some critics have even accused Anthropic of fearmongering in hopes that it will trigger a regulatory push that could shut out competition and leave it and OpenAI with a duopoly in the sector.
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that → accuse → sector
Brad Gerstner, who is the head of the investment firm Altimeter Capital, posted pictures of Huang from the conference and accused Coxon of "ridiculous hyperbole".
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who → post → hyperbole
On Friday, chief executive of AI platform Hugging Face, Clement Delangue, weighed in.
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executive → weigh → Face
Hugging Face, which Nvidia announced it would acquire last week, was hacked by OpenAI agents earlier this year prompting an outcry over AI safety.
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it → announce → safety
"Sorry, but asking Jacob about AI extinction risk is like asking your AC guy about climate change," he wrote on X. "
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he → ask → X.
Not saying it's necessarily uninteresting or wrong per se but let's keep things in perspective."
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's → say → perspective
Both Gerstner and Delangue were more circumspect on Saturday after Amodei's proposal was posted, with Gerstner calling the idea "an important step forward" in balancing competing considerations like speed and safety.
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Gerstner → post → speed
Delangue offered to help be a part of the potential solutions proposed by Amodei.
Could insider warnings prompt a crackdown?
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warnings → offer → crackdown
In April, Anthropic roiled the AI world when it said it found that its Mythos tool could outperform humans at some hacking and cybersecurity tasks.
Mythos also showed the ability to independently escape what is known as the sandbox environment, setting off a debate among regulators, legislators and businesses about AI's potential dangers.
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what → roil → dangers
In a new development on Thursday, Anthropic said it had found and stopped threat actors who were trying to use its AI technology for activity including the development of bioweapons and cyber-espionage.
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who → say → bioweapons
Beneath the sparkling chandeliers hanging in the stained-glass dome atrium of The Palace Hotel, some investors told the BBC that the comments from Coxon and others could accelerate a government crackdown.
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comments → hang → crackdown
Federal legislation co-sponsored this month by left-wing Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, known as the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, would impose a temporary pause in advanced AI development.
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legislation → co → development
"There is a good chance that human beings will lose control over AI," Sanders told the BBC's Newsnight programme on Thursday.
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Sanders → be → Thursday
"And what happens then, nobody knows.
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nobody → happen → ?
"
"When scientists tell you there is a chance that it could have a cataclysmic impact on humanity, you've got be a moron not to say, slow it down," he added.
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he → tell → it
If an industry-wide government crackdown comes, however, it is likely to be led by legislators and not the Trump administration which largely supports a policy of unfettered AI development.
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which → come → development
It has framed this as necessary to ensure the US does not cede dominance to China.
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US → frame → China
Speaking to reporters this week, President Donald Trump was asked if he had any concerns about AI leading to human extinction.
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AI → speak → extinction
"No, I don't have any," he said.
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he → have → any
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
