SEPTEMBER 13, 2026
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei speaks during an interview on.
Jacob Coxon, the former OpenAI researcher and Anthropic employee who recently resigned over concerns about the dangerously rapid pace of artificial intelligence development, said Sunday that building superintelligent models is like “summoning an alien species.”
Appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” Coxon responded to George Stephanopoulos’ question about what scenario worries him the most when it comes to AI development.
“Honestly, I think the concept of building a superintelligence is ― well, it’s been likened to summoning an alien species,” the former employee said. “So I think thinking about it in terms of an alien mind that we don’t fully understand is pretty terrifying, even without any concrete scenario.”
Coxon resigned from his post last week, stating that “people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.” He said that neither Anthropic nor Open AI is “acting responsibly,” and are “racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives.”
Days later, Anthropic released a lengthy report detailing scenarios in which its AI models have been misused, including several situations in which scientists used the models to conduct research that could contribute toward developing bioweapons, one of the most alarming examples.
In response to Coxon’s warning and the resulting public panic, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei wrote an essay Saturday calling on AI companies to slow the rate in which they advance their AI model capabilities. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in an X post that he agrees with Amodei, and announced the company will not yet go public, citing AI safety concerns.
Amodei’s plan involves independent evaluators with employee-like access to verify safety practices, collaboration with frontier AI firms to set safety standards and international cooperation to manage AI risks.
Coxon said he agrees with Amodei’s plan as a “very sensible first step.”
“I think it’s great, it’s very exciting. I think this is a substantial step toward what I was talking about, needing some sort of slowdown between the people building the different AIs. Although the one thing that’s maybe missing is in terms of the current proposal, is more engagement with China,” he told Stephanopoulos.
Amodei told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that the U.S. and China should pursue an agreement not to use AI to develop biological weapons, and in the long-term, to consider a sort of ‘speed limit’ on the pace of development. It’s unclear if that message will be heard, given President Donald Trump’s recent dismissal of the calls to slow down AI progression.
Jacob Coxon, former OpenAI researcher and Anthropic employee who resigned over concerns about rapid AI development, speaks to George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s
“I think probably the most important thing to take away is no matter what you’re currently doing, AI is going to have probably a significant impact on your life,” Coxon said. “And it’s pretty important to keep your eyes open about the direction things are heading and not necessarily leave it all up to the people that are building it because, you know, they want engagement.”
Courtesy: HuffPost
