WASHINGTON, D.C. — A scathing warning this week from inside the artificial intelligence industry is now raising new questions about just how fast AI is advancing.
A former researcher for OpenAI and Anthropic says the technology could soon become too powerful for humans to control.
“The precise scenario sounds a little bit like science fiction. It sounds like something that’s not real, but I think it is frighteningly real,” said 27-year-old Jacob Coxon, when speaking to CNN Wednesday.
Coxon, a former researcher for both Anthropic and OpenAI – two major AI leaders – released a scathing social media thread on X on Tuesday, warning that AI could wreak havoc on society if it continues developing at its current pace and if there’s no global action.
“If you extrapolate into the future the level of capabilities of these AIs with the same independent volition, they could cause extreme havoc, for example, hacking critical infrastructure, building extinction-level bioweapons,” Coxon told CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “There’s a lot of ways that the AI could actuate itself in the world.”
Coxon’s social media post — viewed by more than 150 million on X — blasted both companies as he announced his resignation.
“I resigned from Anthropic today. I spent the last three years doing pretraining research at both OpenAI and Anthropic. Neither company is acting responsibly. They are racing straight to self-improving, superintelligence and gambling with our lives,” Coxon wrote. “The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade. This is not a marketing stunt. If anything, many executives and senior researchers will couch their phrasing in the press to sound sensible — but I hear the same people express fear privately. No other human activity poses this level of danger.”
Coxon’s dire warnings come as lawmakers juggle data center pushback and a global race to solidify the nation’s position as the world’s leader in AI development.
“This is the moon race of this generation,” said Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y. “China or the United States is going to win that moon race. If we lose, we will no longer be the global superpower.”
Congressman Langworthy added, that although it’s pivotal to maintain the competitive edge over China, protecting U.S. citizens is paramount.
“Failure is not an option. But we also have to protect the American people at all costs,” Langworthy said.
The New York Republican said the government needs to act now by passing a regulatory framework for the rapidly evolving tech.
“It’s moving very, very quickly,” Langworthy said. “We need guardrails in place, and that’s where I’d like to see us come to a federal framework — get the partisanship out of this — let’s have a real discussion, ‘where do we need the guardrails in place.’”
“I am optimistic about the potential for coordination. Warning shots like the Hugging Face attack have made pacing agreements between U.S. labs more viable. I don’t feel like we’re on track to prevent a global race, which may require costly actions such as a temporary ban on improving model capabilities,” Coxon wrote on X.
Coxon said AI companies are strongly seeking regulation, and even international coordination, before the technology outpaces human control.
“They find themselves in this scenario where they’re compelled to race towards building a deadly technology. They would love for some sort of international body to allow them to approach it at a reasonable pace. They just don’t trust that the people around them are going to get there, in a safe way, so they feel like they have to race there too,” Coxon said on CNN.
