Yes, AI Might Really Kill Us All

Read the original at The Free Press ↗
Cite

Kokotajlo, D. (2026, September 10). Yes, AI Might Really Kill Us All. The Free Press. https://www.thefp.com/p/yes-ai-might-really-kill-us-all

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Free Press · collected 2026-09-10 · by Daniel Kokotajlo

Quick Summary

A former employee of AI companies OpenAI and Anthropic warns that their pursuit of superintelligence could be catastrophic, echoing a prediction made by one of the researchers himself. According to Jacob Coxon's resignation post on X, these companies are racing towards developing systems that can hack anything and acquire real power, which he believes poses an existential threat. Coxon claims that people within these companies genuinely believe AI could wipe out humanity by the end of the decade. The author of this article, who has worked at OpenAI themselves, agrees with Coxon's assessment.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-10, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

On September 8, Jacob Coxon, a 27-year-old researcher who previously worked at both OpenAI and Anthropic, resigned from Anthropic, warning that the companies are racing towards developing self-improving superintelligence and potentially putting human lives at risk. Coxon's resignation drew significant attention online and in media outlets like CNN and BBC News, with experts such as Geoffrey Hinton estimating a 10% chance of AI causing human extinction within this decade. Notably, several current Anthropic employees echoed Coxon’s concerns on social media platforms, emphasizing the urgency of addressing AI safety issues before it is too late. Despite these warnings, some in Silicon Valley and industry leaders remain skeptical about the immediate threat posed by AI advancements.

Written for “AI Safety And Human Extinction Warnings” on 2026-10-26, grounded in this article and the 29 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 AI Safety And Human Extinction Warnings
Technology · 30 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 9% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Experts warn of threats of AI bioterrorism same event · 100%
Semafor
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 6 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles mention Anthropic's powerful model, AI safety concerns, and AI researcher Jacob Coxon's resignation announcement on X”
The AI warnings are coming from inside the lab same event · 100%
Platformer
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 4 📰 publisher trust 96
“Both articles mention Jacob Coxon's resignation from Anthropic on the same date, suggesting they are describing the same specific event.”
AI could 'kill all humans' by the end of the decade, Anthropic researcher warns - as he quits over 'out of control' superintelligence race same event · 100%
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans strongly left 🔴 31% hedged 11 of 36 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles describe the same researcher, Jacob Coxon, quitting his job at Anthropic and warning about the dangers of AI”
Anthropic researcher abruptly quits, warning AI ‘could kill us all’ same event · 100%
New York Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 17% hedged 2 of 12 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles describe the same researcher, Jacob Coxon, announcing his resignation from Anthropic and warning about the dangers of AI on X, at the same time (Tuesday)”
AI researchers say industry is 'gambling with our lives' same event · 100%
Semafor
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 29% hedged 2 of 7 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles report on the same person, Jacob Coxon, resigning from Anthropic and warning about the risks of AI, at the same time (Tuesday) in 2026.”
Anthropic researcher says some developers believe AI 'could kill us all' same event · 100%
ABC News (AU)
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 50% hedged 2 of 4 📰 publisher trust 68
“Both articles describe the same resignation announcement by Jacob Coxon, with Article A mentioning it in general and Article B quoting his post”
Top AI pioneers reaffirm Anthropic researcher’s human extinction warning same event · 100%
Semafor
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 25% hedged 1 of 4 📰 publisher trust 60
“Both articles mention the resignation of Jacob Coxon and the warning about human extinction from top AI researchers on September 10, 2026.”
Anthropic Staffers Again Sound the Alarm on AI Catastrophe same event · 100%
Mother Jones
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 18% hedged 8 of 44 📰 publisher trust 95
“Both articles describe the same resignation announcement by Jacob Coxon, citing concerns about AI development and potential catastrophe”
The AI Apocalypse? Here Are 9 AI Experts Warning It Could Kill Us All Very Soon same event · 100%
Zeteo
⚖️ Leans strongly left 🔴 4% hedged 1 of 24
“Both articles report on the exact same event: Jacob Coxon's resignation from Anthropic and his warning about the threat of AI.”
Ex-Anthropic researcher warns AI could grow "smart enough to kill us" same event · 100%
CBS News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 27% hedged 10 of 37 📰 publisher trust 66
“Both articles report on the public resignation of Jacob Coxon from Anthropic and his warning about AI's potential threat to humanity”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
11
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
9%
1 of 11 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
96/100
The Free Press's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
30
Technology
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-10 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Free Press · 365 article(s) · 0 correction(s) detected
No corrections detected for this publisher. That may mean careful reporting, or simply that nothing has been checked.

Who wrote this

Daniel Kokotajlo
1 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 These will soon be superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionize any field overnight, and acquire real power and resources.
2026-09-10 · assertive framing · Yes, AI Might Really Kill Us All
The only article under this byline in the corpus.

Topics

Anthropic OpenAI

Subjects

Anthropic ORG · 3× OpenAI ORG · 3× Claude PERSON · 1× Jacob Coxon PERSON · 1×

Narrative

I know this because I worked at OpenAI for two years, forecasting AI progress internally and working on model evaluations and alignment research, and because I still talk with friends at OpenAI and Anthropic.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-10
🔮 These will soon be superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionize any field overnight, and acquire real power and resources.
2026-09-10 · The Free Press
Yes, AI Might Really Kill Us All · assertive framing

Claims (11 extracted, 1 hedged)

There’s a moment in many science-fiction movies when a scientist tries to warn everyone that some monster or pathogen is about to break containment. asserted
monster → ’ → containment
And then they are ignored. asserted
they → ignore → ?
We have now arrived at that moment in real life. asserted
We → arrive → life
We’d better not ignore it. asserted
We → ignore → it
On Tuesday, AI researcher Jacob Coxon announced his resignation from Anthropic in a mega-viral post on X: “I spent the last three years doing pretraining research at both OpenAI and Anthropic,” he began. asserted
he → announce → OpenAI
He continued: “Neither company is acting responsibly. asserted
company → continue → ?
They are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives. asserted
They → race → lives
These will soon be superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionize any field overnight, and acquire real power and resources. asserted
that → hack → power
The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade. uncertain
it → build → decade
He’s right. asserted
He → ’ → ?
I know this because I worked at OpenAI for two years, forecasting AI progress internally and working on model evaluations and alignment research, and because I still talk with friends at OpenAI and Anthropic. asserted
I → know → OpenAI
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