Researcher who departed AI role over fears of racing into extinction says people are 'begging' for regulation

The Anthropic researcher who is leaving the company over fears the technology is gambling with human life told Fox News there is hope that we can avoid the chance it could destroy humankind within the next decade.

Speaking exclusively Wednesday on "Special Report," Jacob Coxon, 27, said regulation is key.

He posted his resignation Tuesday on X, writing that companies are not acting responsibly and that the race toward self-improving superintelligence is "gambling with our lives."

Coxon, who said he spent the past three years doing pretraining research at OpenAI and Anthropic, noted that it's not a completely hopeless scenario.

ANTHROPIC RESEARCHER SAYS AI HAS OVER 10% CHANCE TO 'KILL ALL HUMANS' WITHIN NEXT DECADE

A laptop shows the letters "AI" beside a smartphone displaying a chat AI app logo in Frankfurt, Germany, on Jan. 2, 2025. (Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images)

He told Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier the problem is "eminently solvable." 

Evan Hubinger, alignment science lead at Anthropic, expressed his agreement with Coxon's X post.

"Jacob is correct here — we really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans!" he wrote on X. "I personally think it is >10% within the next decade. 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."

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Jacob Coxon is a former Anthropic researcher who left the company over fears the technology could take over the human race. (Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images)

"To be clear, as we say in our latest Risk Report, I think the risk from present models is low," Hubinger added. "What I am worried about is superintelligence arising from recursive self-improvement, as we have said is happening faster than we thought."

Coxon said he agrees with Hubinger that right now, the threat is "minimal" of artificial intelligence's actual takeover.

"But recursive self-improvement — this AIs making themselves smarter — could happen as soon as next year," he added. "Some people even say six months. So this attitude is shared across the industry, where people essentially are aware that the work they are currently doing, if we don't slow down, could lead to AI takeover by the end of the decade."

He believes there is "definitely" something the country can do to change the dynamic of the "greater than 10% chance" that AI kills all humans.

"I think the problem is not unsolvable, it's not like we think this is some impossible thing — it's just, we're racing so fast, we haven't got time to solve it correctly, we're not being careful, and everyone wants to be careful," Coxon said. "I think it's just — people are begging for regulation. I think it's just a matter of — international — somebody stepping in and being able to ensure that we don't race ourselves into extinction. The problem is eminently solvable."

The technology is being used on the international stage as a "superweapon" in an arms race, Coxon said, calling for the global community to provide oversight.

"This is possibly the most dangerous technology that humanity has ever created," he continued. "It's basically out of science fiction. I think we have no other choice but to cooperate internationally because an arms race would be disastrous in a way that no other human activity has been in the past."

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Coxon mentioned that a number of technology leaders have publicly expressed the need for a slow-down agreement, but people are not yet taking them seriously.

"It's not just a marketing stunt," he said. "These people are deadly serious that they think their industry needs to be regulated as soon as possible."

As for AI's benefits, Coxon said we are "on the doorstep of tremendous discoveries," but we're running in too quickly. He emphasized the need for moderation.

Baier asked Coxon if the issue could be figured out.

"I think definitely. I think if we actually try instead of submitting to the inevitability of a doomed race or a hubristic gamble, then we can solve it," he said. "The problem is not unsolvable."

Fox News Digital reached out to Anthropic for comment.