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Anthropic researcher abruptly quits, warning AI ‘could kill us all’

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Nesi, C. (2026, September 9). Anthropic researcher abruptly quits, warning AI ‘could kill us all’. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/09/09/tech/anthropic-researcher-abruptly-quits-warning-some-developers-believe-ai-could-kill-us-all/

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New York Post · collected 2026-09-09 · by Chris Nesi

Quick Summary

Jacob Coxon, a researcher with 3 years of experience in pre-training research at Anthropic and OpenAI, has abruptly quit his job, warning that AI "could kill us all by the end of the decade". He claims both companies are racing towards creating self-improving superintelligence without acting responsibly. According to Coxon, executives and senior researchers are privately expressing fear about the technology's potential dangers, but downplaying it publicly. Coxon resigned from Anthropic, alleging that the company is engaged in a "hubristic gamble" by prioritizing being the first to develop AI over solving its alignment issues.
Written by AI on 2026-09-09, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On September 8, Jacob Coxon, a 27-year-old researcher who previously worked at both OpenAI and Anthropic, resigned from Anthropic, warning that the companies are racing towards developing self-improving superintelligence and potentially putting human lives at risk. Coxon's resignation drew significant attention online and in media outlets like CNN and BBC News, with experts such as Geoffrey Hinton estimating a 10% chance of AI causing human extinction within this decade. Notably, several current Anthropic employees echoed Coxon’s concerns on social media platforms, emphasizing the urgency of addressing AI safety issues before it is too late. Despite these warnings, some in Silicon Valley and industry leaders remain skeptical about the immediate threat posed by AI advancements.

Written for “AI Safety And Human Extinction Warnings” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 29 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 AI Safety And Human Extinction Warnings
Technology · 30 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 17% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
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Hedges 2 of 7 claims Outlet record 60/100
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Hedges 2 of 4 claims Outlet record 68/100
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans strongly left Hedges 11 of 36 claims Outlet record 68/100
Mother Jones
Hedges 8 of 44 claims Outlet record 95/100
Dawn
Hedges 2 of 21 claims Outlet record 72/100
Semafor
Hedges 1 of 4 claims Outlet record 60/100
BBC News
Hedges 7 of 26 claims Outlet record 69/100
Noahpinion
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 37 of 101 claims
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Hedges 5 of 67 claims Outlet record 60/100
Platformer
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 0 of 4 claims Outlet record 96/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
12
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
17%
2 of 12 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
30
Technology
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-09 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 15208 article(s) · 35 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 35 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Chris Nesi
33 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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Also by Chris Nesi
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 33 articles by Chris Nesi →

Topics

Anthropic India OpenAI Slack the AI Impact Summit

Subjects

Anthropic ORG · 6× Jacob Coxon PERSON · 3× OpenAI ORG · 3× Dario Amodei PERSON · 1× India GPE · 1× Narendra Modi PERSON · 1× New Delhi GPE · 1× Sam Altman PERSON · 1× Slack ORG · 1× X/Jacob Coxon PERSON · 1×

Narrative

“Accepting this race and entering the “endgame” is a hubristic gamble that should not be launched from a private company’s Slack.” “I believe Anthropic is trying its best, but we do not yet have a plan to solve alignment for superintelligence and are not clearly on track to.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-09
🔮 A researcher for one of the largest and most valuable artificial intelligence companies publicly quit while raising the alarm that the technology “could kill us all by the end of the decade.”
2026-09-09 · New York Post
Anthropic researcher abruptly quits, warning AI ‘could kill us all’ · assertive framing

Claims (12 extracted, 2 hedged)

A researcher for one of the largest and most valuable artificial intelligence companies publicly quit while raising the alarm that the technology “could kill us all by the end of the decade.” uncertain
technology → quit → decade
Jacob Coxon, who has performed pre-training research at Anthropic and OpenAI for the last three years, posted on X that “neither company is acting responsibly.” asserted
company → perform → X
“They are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives,” he wrote late Tuesday, with others from the company backing his message. asserted
others → race → message
These will soon be superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionize any field overnight, and acquire real power and resources. asserted
that → hack → power
“The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade,” he wrote, saying his warning was “not a marketing stunt.” uncertain
warning → build → decade
“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. asserted
people → couch → fear
No other human activity poses this level of danger.” asserted
activity → pose → danger
“At Anthropic, the stakes are well-understood, but they are locked in a race to get there first — they believe no one else will act responsibly, so they must do it themselves, despite the risk,” he alleged. asserted
he → understand → risk
“Accepting this race and entering the “endgame” is a hubristic gamble that should not be launched from a private company’s Slack.” “I believe Anthropic is trying its best, but we do not yet have a plan to solve alignment for superintelligence and are not clearly on track to. asserted
we → accept → track
Jacob Coxon announced his resignation from Anthropic. asserted
Coxon → announce → Anthropic
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) takes a group photo with AI company leaders including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (C) and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei (R) at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi on February 19, 2026. asserted
Minister → take → February
AFP via Getty Images Coxon, who spent the last three years doing pretraining research at both OpenAI and Anthropic, claimed neither company is acting responsibly. asserted
company → spend → OpenAI
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