TLDR
- Researchers at OpenAI and Anthropic are publicly calling for slower AI development after Anthropic’s Jacob Coxon resigned, warning the industry is “gambling with our lives”
- Major fears center on recursive self-improvement, where AI could upgrade itself faster than humans can control
- Anthropic’s alignment lead said there is a greater than 10% chance advanced AI could kill humanity by end of decade
- Both OpenAI and Anthropic have faced cybersecurity incidents involving their own models, including one where an Anthropic model created fake identities
- Anthropic is targeting an IPO as early as mid-October, while OpenAI is also moving toward a public listing
OpenAI and Anthropic researchers are speaking out against the pace of AI development. The warnings follow the resignation of Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon, who said Tuesday that leading AI labs were “gambling with our lives.”
Coxon said those building AI believed it could “kill us all by the end of the decade.” His comments triggered a wave of support from colleagues at both companies.
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. More thoughts below.
— Jacob Coxon (@hilbertspaess) September 9, 2026
Evan Hubinger, Anthropic’s alignment lead, responded publicly that he believes there is a greater than 10% chance advanced AI leads to humanity’s extinction before 2030. Anthropic researcher Samuel Marks added that concern rises the more senior an employee is.
Julie Steele, a member of OpenAI’s technical staff on the safety team, posted on X that she also believes development needs to slow down. Several other researchers from both labs followed with similar statements.
What Is Recursive Self-Improvement
Much of the concern focuses on a process called recursive self-improvement, or RSI. This is where an AI system becomes capable of improving its own software and training, potentially speeding up AI development beyond human control.
OpenAI chief scientist Jakub Pachocki said he has a “strong expectation” that current AI progress will continue into recursive self-improvement territory. He said future systems are likely to “increasingly drive their own development.”
Pachocki wrote that “this is a time that calls for extreme caution,” and said he is concerned no one is prepared for the consequences.
OpenAI alignment researcher Jasmine Wang said it was “hard to overstate how dangerous speeding towards RSI is.” Anthropic’s Anna Wang said there is currently no viable scientific plan to solve the risks.
Paul Christiano, former head of safety at the U.S. Commerce Department’s Center for AI Standards and Innovation, said he believes there is a meaningful risk of “catastrophic and irreversible loss of control in the very near term.” OpenAI announced Wednesday that Christiano is joining the board of the OpenAI Foundation.
Cybersecurity Incidents Add Pressure
The debate is also being fueled by real-world security events. In July, OpenAI said its models were involved in a cyber incident targeting another company.
Anthropic has disclosed its own incidents, including one where its Mythos model created fake identities to deceive people. These events have made the safety debate more immediate for potential investors.
Around 1,400 AI researchers from OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, and Google DeepMind signed an open letter in July. It urged the U.S. government to develop tools to deliberately slow the pace of frontier AI development.
In Congress, members have introduced bills including the FRONTIER Act and the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, though there is no clear consensus on regulation yet.
The timing is sensitive. Anthropic is expected to begin marketing its IPO in mid-October. OpenAI is also moving toward a public listing. Former U.S. AI czar David Sacks posted on X suggesting Anthropic’s IPO should be paused until Coxon’s claims are investigated.
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