Jacob Coxon, who recently resigned from AI firm Anthropic due to safety concerns, has echoed calls from industry leaders for a pause in the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence. Coxon, formerly a safety researcher at both Anthropic and OpenAI, stated on ABC News’ "This Week" that he supports Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s recent letter urging a slowdown in AI development.
"I think we owe it to humanity to try," Amodei wrote in a letter titled "We Must Pace the Frontier," advocating for a more measured approach to creating the technology. Coxon's own departure from Anthropic last week was marked by a post on X, formerly Twitter, where he claimed that neither Anthropic nor OpenAI "is acting responsibly. They are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives."
Coxon revealed that the fear of an AI takeover is a tangible concern within the industry. "The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade," he wrote. He expressed surprise at the significant public reaction to his resignation and subsequent statements, noting that the widespread engagement indicated "the moment being ripe for this sort of chat."
During his interview, Coxon also addressed the growing internal recognition of AI's escalating risks. "There's not enough time to be constantly thinking about the risks, but definitely, I've noticed that in recent months, it comes up more and more often," Coxon said. He observed that conversations about the significant risks associated with AI technology occur approximately twice a week, regardless of an individual's role within the company.