A day after former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon posted a series of warnings claiming that "AI could kill all humans," another detail about his departure has emerged: he left the company before his equity had vested, effectively walking away from a potentially significant payoff.
He also added some balance to his own argument. He admitted that some of the industry's fear -- like the fear of falling behind China or rival companies -- is sometimes exaggerated, and can be used as an excuse to move faster instead of slower.
"Doom" Sounds Silly. The Worry Doesn't
Coxon said today's Coxon isn't a fan of the word "doom" -- he thinks it sounds over-the-top. But he points out that many serious, well-respected people in the AI industry -- not random critics or bloggers -- have publicly said they believe human extinction is a real possible outcome of this technology.That's the strange place the AI industry is in right now. Nobody serious is saying robots will attack people next week. But more and more of the people who understand this technology best are saying, quietly at first and now more openly, that the risk is real enough to lose sleep over -- and real enough to walk away from a paycheck over.
It's too early to know if Coxon's resignation will change anything at Anthropic or across the AI industry. Companies have survived employees quitting before. But every time someone gives up real money just to say "this scares me," it becomes a little harder for everyone else to brush it off.