Former Google DeepMind researcher says he resigned because 'I earnestly believe that AI has the potential to kill us all'

A former DeepMind researcher announced his resignation from Google over concerns that artificial intelligence could threaten humanity. Bilal Chughtai claimed he is "extremely concerned by the default trajectory of this technology" and believes AI has the potential to "kill us all." At Google, Chughtai witnessed AI development firsthand while working on AGI safety and alignment research.

He emphasized that his understanding of training AI systems to align with human desires remains "extremely rudimentary" and that the pace of frontier AI capabilities is outpacing efforts to solve alignment issues. Chughtai noted that misaligned AI models, capable of surpassing human intelligence, could pose significant risks. Despite criticism from some in the industry, others share his concerns, and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has called for a paced development of frontier AI while advancing alignment.