AI Could 'Kill Us All' by 2030, Whistleblower Warns in Chilling Message About the 'Level of Danger': 'This is Not a Marketing Stunt'
A former artificial intelligence researcher has sounded the alarm about the technology.
Sept. 9 2026, Updated 3:47 p.m. ET
An artificial intelligence researcher has sounded a scary alarm claiming the futuristic technology could "kill us all by the end of the decade," RadarOnline.com can report.
Jacob Coxon quit his job at Anthropic on Tuesday, September 8 in a viral rant and accused the company, and its chief rival, OpenAI, of acting irresponsibly about the rapid pace of AI's takeover in our daily lives.
Fears AI Companies Are 'Gambling' With Lives
Jacob Coxon quit his job at Anthropic.
Coxon, who until Tuesday worked as a researcher at both companies, said in a post on X that he quit out of fear that Anthropic and OpenAI are "gambling with our lives."
"The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade," he tweeted. "This is not a marketing stunt. 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. No other human activity poses this level of danger."
The researcher understands the shock of his warning, but reveals, "At OpenAI, many have not deeply internalized the civilizational stakes. 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."
"Accepting this race and entering the 'endgame' is a hubristic gamble that should not be launched from a private company’s Slack. Attempting to speedrun alignment should require extraordinary confidence that there are no better trajectories available," he continued.
'Powerful' Technology No One Can Stop
Coxon warned not to 'underestimate' the power of AI.
Coxon noted, "Do not underestimate the power of this technology. These will soon be superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionize any field overnight, and acquire real power and resources. We have all witnessed the progress in each of these domains, and progress is not slowing."
But the whistleblower did express some optimism, especially over the possibility of working together to rise up.
"I don’t feel like we're on track to prevent a global race, which may require costly actions such as a temporary ban on improving model capabilities," he said. "If you are a lab researcher, I urge you to consider what the next few years will actually feel like. Do you want to kick off a superintelligent RL run without a rigorous understanding of its mind? Should you put your head down because 'it’s happening anyway' – or take this moment to call for different conditions?"
Jacob Coxon Has Been Met with Skepticism
The warning seems to have fallen on deaf ears.
Coxon's "warning" seems to have been met with resistance online, where many people questioned his theory.
"Could someone explain to me how AI could 'kill us all' without using a nuke or some type of biological means as an example?" one person asked on X. "I mean, I understand the social and economic impact to a degree, but I’m talking about this doomsday scenario people keep warning us about but can’t quite seem to be specific about."
Another person wanted to know, "So you want America to stop innovating and have China gain the upper hand? What’s the point you’re making here?"
A third agreed, "We will not throw away a utopian paradise for a small chance of it not working. The sooner we get there the more people can experience it. Do you want your parents to die while we idle and experience this future without them?"
And one person blasted, "I'm so sick of these corny posts about the extinction of humanity from AI. Lol. Who is the physical actuator there? Does AI just magically become a physical entity, able to survive on organic material? Give me a break."
Lawmakers Weigh In With Their Thoughts and Opinions.
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Coxon is starting to get support from some lawmakers.
Yet, there are some key figureheads who are heading Coxon's warnings – particularly lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, urged the legislative branch to convene a special session on AI advancements, saying "not enough of Congress is focusing on this" even though it is "by far the most consequential" issue facing Americans."
She continued, "Partisan politics aside, there are massive implications of a race towards super intelligence. We MUST be ready. This is happening whether or not we want it to."
