BBC News
· collected 2026-09-13 · by Brandon Livesay, Mitchell Labiak
Jacob Coxon, a former researcher at Anthropic who previously worked at OpenAI, told the BBC that employees working on artificial intelligence are genuinely frightened by the technology's rapid advancement and potential risks to humanity. Coxon emphasized the urgency of slowing down AI development due to fears of an "AI apocalypse," which some experts predict could occur within the next year or two. Anthropic’s head, Dario Amodei, has called for industry-wide deceleration and independent monitoring, a stance echoed by rivals Sam Altman from OpenAI and Elon Musk from xAI. Coxon also noted that Chinese involvement is crucial to avoid an international race towards potentially catastrophic outcomes.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-13,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
- Published
An artificial intelligence researcher who quit AI firm Anthropic has said people working on the technology were "genuinely frightened" about the speed of its advancements and what it could mean for humanity.
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it → publish → humanity
"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," he said.
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he → believe → future
Jacob Coxon was speaking to the BBC after his resignation post on the dangers of AI went viral on a backdrop of growing safety concerns about the industry.
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post → speak → industry
The 27-year-old's former boss, Anthropic head Dario Amodei, recently called for AI development to slow down - though some have questioned the motivations behind this.
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some → call → this
The bosses of two rival AI firms, Sam Altman of OpenAI and Elon Musk of xAI, have both said they agree with Amodei's proposal for industry-wide deceleration and regulation, as well as independent monitoring of AI model development.
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they → say → development
Amodei wrote in an essay on Saturday that developing the technology was not in question, but the risks associated with it were "serious", and that companies and governments must be given time to address them.
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companies → write → them
Coxon – who worked at OpenAI before joining Anthropic – welcomed the suggestion of a slowdown but said it would need to be co-ordinated with China to avoid "a race at an international scale".
"The people who work at these companies are completely serious when they ask for regulation because they find themselves trapped in a race.
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themselves → work → race
And they're scared of the outcomes of that race," he told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
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he → tell → Kuenssberg
The hardest question to answer, according to Coxon, was what an AI apocalypse would look like.
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apocalypse → answer → what
One of the risks outlined in Amodei's comments was of a swarm of bots acting like a supercomputer that could take over the internet.
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that → outline → internet
Coxon said this scenario could be realistic in six months to a year.
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scenario → say → year
In response to Coxon's departure, an Anthropic spokesperson told BBC News: "We have always been transparent that AI will bring both enormous benefits and unprecedented risks.
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AI → tell → benefits
"To address these risks, we continue to build models with some of the strongest safeguards in the industry.
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we → address → industry
The firm has been a pioneer in studying how AI models work, the spokesperson added.
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spokesperson → study → ?
It was the first to publish a framework for mitigating the risks posed by their development - and it also "aggressively" tests its models and publishes the findings to aid scrutiny and prevent incidents of "AI misalignment".
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it → publish → misalignment
"This work is also why we believe the world would benefit from the industry adopting a lawful, verifiable way to work together to pace how we release powerful models," they said.
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they → believe → models
Coxon said his peers feared the danger could even arrive in the next two years.
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danger → say → years
He said staff at AI firms were "planning what to do with their lives and thinking about the impacts of their work", while some were "considering buying land somewhere because they're so scared of the instability as a result of rapid AI progress".
"They all keep this in their head on a daily basis while working on the technology.
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They → say → technology
But Coxon did have some optimism about the future of AI, telling the BBC that the people researching the technology "genuinely want to see the upside" of things like "solving diseases and improving everyone's lives".
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people → have → lives
Many others in the industry have also voiced their concerns since Coxon's social media post, including Anthropic scientist Evan Hubinger.
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others → voice → Hubinger
"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," Hubinger said.
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Hubinger → think → decade
Computer scientist and Nobel Prize winner Geoffrey Hinton, known as the "Godfather of AI", told the BBC on Friday that a 10% chance of AI killing all humans was "not unreasonable", external.
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AI → know → humans
Meanwhile, Marc Warner, chief executive of AI safety firm Faculty, told the BBC that it was "extremely hard to place a probability" on AI killing all humans.
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AI → tell → humans
"But it's important to recognise that these people are very sincere in what they're saying," he added, noting that the risks surrounding AI have been raised by the heads of several AI firms for years.
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risks → recognise → years
Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is a paid adviser to Anthropic, wrote in the Sunday Times, external that he too was worried about the risk of AI to humanity despite generally being optimistic.
However, some industry figures have suggested comments about the perils and power of AI may be designed to generate hype.
Chief executive of the AI platform Hugging Face, Clement Delangue, said on social media: "Sorry, but asking Jacob [Coxon] about AI extinction risk is like asking your AC guy about climate change.
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asking → pay → change
Not saying it's necessarily uninteresting or wrong per se but let's keep things in perspective."
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's → say → perspective
After Amodei's essay was published, however, Delangue offered to help be a part of the potential solutions the Anthropic boss proposed.
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boss → publish → solutions
Meanwhile, Nvidia boss Jensen Huang also discussed Coxon's comments at a conference hosted by the investment bank Goldman Sachs last week, 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 was "going to be the end of humanity" was "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
Other critics say Anthropic has been trying to trigger a regulatory push to block competition, leaving it and OpenAI in a duopoly.
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Anthropic → say → duopoly
Anthropic is reportedly preparing for a potentially record-setting initial public offering on the stock market, allowing people to buy shares in its firm.
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people → prepare → firm
OpenAI, which was most recently valued at $852bn (£630bn), had been expected to do the same, but OpenAI's Altman said on Friday this would not happen this year, citing safety concerns.
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this → value → concerns
