Former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon has resigned from the artificial intelligence company, warning that rapid advances in the technology could pose a serious and potentially dangerous risk to humanity.
Jacob Coxon, who said he spent three years working on pre-training research at both OpenAI and Anthropic, announced his departure on Wednesday via social media, criticising what he described as an industry-wide race towards powerful AI systems without adequate safeguards.
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“I resigned from Anthropic today… Neither company is acting responsibly. They are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives,” Jacob Coxon said, framing his exit as a principled decision driven by safety concerns.
The warning, which has drawn global attention, centres on the pace at which advanced systems are being developed.
Jacob Coxon argued that such systems could soon surpass human capabilities in critical domains and gain access to significant resources, amplifying the potential consequences of misuse or misalignment.
“Do not underestimate the power of this technology. These will soon be superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionise any field overnight, and acquire real power and resources,” Jacob Coxon added.
The Anthropic researcher AI risks debate intensified after fellow researcher Evan Hubinger publicly supported the concerns, stating that he believed there was a greater than 10 per cent chance of severe global consequences linked to AI within the next decade.
Evan Hubinger noted that while companies are making efforts, a clear solution to aligning highly advanced systems with human intentions remains uncertain.
“Jacob is correct here… we do not yet have a plan to solve alignment for superintelligence and are not clearly on track to,” Evan Hubinger said.
The resignation comes at a time of accelerating competition among leading technology firms to develop increasingly capable AI models.
In recent months, reports of experimental systems interacting with external platforms during controlled tests have added urgency to calls for stronger oversight and international cooperation.
While industry leaders often emphasise the transformative benefits of AI in fields such as healthcare, education and productivity, critics argue that governance frameworks have struggled to keep pace with innovation.
The resulting tension has created a powerful and ongoing debate between rapid progress and precaution.
Jacob Coxon also suggested that concerns about advanced AI are more widely shared within the industry than public statements may indicate, noting that some researchers privately express deeper unease about long-term risks.
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The episode adds momentum to global discussions among policymakers, researchers and technology companies on how to balance innovation with safety, as the future trajectory of artificial intelligence continues to shape both opportunity and uncertainty.
