More Anthropic researchers warn of AI’s perils as Musk terms fears a ‘psyop’

A day after an ex-Anthropic researcher warned of AI's potential to cause human extinction, other Anthropic staff have publicly echoed the dire concerns and posted their own warnings. This has prompted a backlash from conservative figures on X (formerly Twitter), who have called the chorus of fears a "setup" and a "psyop".

Anthropic insiders fear the technology they are developing could become so advanced and dangerous that it could lead to human extinction within a decade. Several researchers and staff posted in response to a viral thread from Jacob Coxon, who resigned from the company, claiming that neither Anthropic nor its competitor OpenAI were building AI models responsibly and were "gambling with our lives".

Anna Wang, an Anthropic employee working on Artificial General Intelligence Safety, said many people at Anthropic want to slow down development to develop a plan to mitigate the risks associated with these AI models. "There is not yet a viable scientific plan to solve risks from recursively self-improving AI," Wang wrote on X.

Drake Thomas, another Anthropic employee, expressed concern that things were moving too fast and there was not enough assurance that artificial superintelligence (ASI) would be safe. Musk took a more antagonistic stance, calling the concerns a "setup". Coxon responded to Musk with a selfie, asserting his real beliefs.

In response to the growing concerns, Anthropic released a statement defending its strategy, stating that they are building models with the strongest safeguards in the industry. However, Musk and others with a more positive view of AI have begun to spread theories that Coxon's post and the resulting fallout are part of a "psyop" to negatively influence public opinion on AI.