Worried Anthropic researchers warn that AI ‘could kill all humans’
Worried Anthropic researchers warn that AI ‘could kill all humans’. After apocalyptic warnings about the threats posed by AI, leaders like Sam Altman and Elon Musk backed Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s calls to ‘slow the pace’Facing a public uproar over Anthropic researchers’ repeated warnings that artificial intelligence could kill all of humanity by 2030, the AI company’s CEO, Dario Amodei, issued a proposal at the weekend to slow down the technology’s advancement to ensure public safety.
What happened
Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Anthropic makes the AI tool Claude, which is used as a chatbot and as a tool to help codingByTom GerkenTechnology reporterPublished9 September 2026A top safety researcher at Anthropic has warned AI is advancing so quickly he believes there is a greater than 10% chance it "could kill all humans" within the next decade. On Tuesday night, a senior employee at Anthropic admitted he believed there was a greater than 10% chance the technology could “kill all humans” in the next decade and warned that his AI company did not have a plan to ensure ASI was aligned, meaning it did no harm.
A senior Anthropic safety researcher has said there is more than a 10 percent chance artificial intelligence "could kill all humans" by the end of the decade, just hours after a colleague resigned over fears the AI lab and its rivals are carelessly racing to build "superhuman systems" they cannot control. In a post on […] By Wednesday, cutting-edge AI started to look a lot less appealing when the resigning Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon warned “the people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade”.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for a coordinated slow down of AI development over the weekend, after researchers warned recently that AI model progress could outpace our ability to safely deploy increasingly complex systems and verify and control the actions of AI agents. Illustration: Ales Utouka/AlamyAI could kill all humans in next decade, warn experts: but how seriously should we take them? 4% in July boosted by AIAnthropic details bad actors’ efforts to misuse its AI for bioweaponsMore Anthropic researchers warn of AI’s perils but Musk dismisses ‘psyop’OpenAI not on track to reduce risk of ‘catastrophic’ loss of control, says board memberWe have started losing control of AI.
The wider picture
Photograph: Dado Ruvić/ReutersAnalysis‘Too little, too late’: critics perplexed and suspicious of AI leaders’ call for a slowdownRobert Booth UK technology editorFrom the Trump administration to AI experts, plans by the Anthropic boss to boost safety have spawned a largely negative response OpenAI boss and Elon Musk back slowdown on ‘reckless’ AI development Editorial: controlling AI – humanity cannot outsource its survival The safety debate that ignited when whistleblowers last week warned that the most advanced AI poses an existential threat to humanity should come with a health warning: side effects include whiplash.
Earlier this month, OpenAI's chief scientist Jakub Pachocki called for "extreme caution" over AI's progress, warning more intervention may be needed to ensure "humans remain in control of the future". Might there even be a greater than 10% chance that AI could “kill all humans” in the next decade? So far we have neither, but a superabundance of hype combined with a striking lack of prudence on OpenAI’s part has gotten us where we are, with intense mistrust all around. ”Explore more on these topicsAI (artificial intelligence)AnthropicComputer science and ITOpenAIComputingnewsShareReuse this contentMore on this storyMore on this storyUK MPs and Lords call for new laws to tackle AI threat to human rightsOpenAI boss and Elon Musk back calls to put brakes on ‘reckless’ AI developmentUK lawmakers urge Burnham to back ban on superintelligent AI after chilling warningsThe Guardian view on controlling AI: humanity cannot outsource its survivalTech whistleblowers warn AI could wipe out humanity.
Skip to main contentSkip to navigation CEO of Anthropic Dario Amodei, speaks in India in February. Photograph: Bhawika Chhabra/ReutersView image in fullscreenCEO of Anthropic Dario Amodei, speaks in India in February. While lawmakers and the tech industry consider how to address growing fear and distrust of AI, many of the hurdles impeding comprehensive AI regulation remain the same as before last week’s apocalyptic declarations from a young Anthropic researcher. View image in fullscreenElon Musk, CEO of Anthropic Dario Amodei, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have said AI firms should slow down the development of the powerful technology.
What has been reported
Amodei’s pacing proposal has drawn heavy skepticism from critics and researchers who allege that AI firms are attempting to preempt more stringent government regulation and retain the status quo of power within the industry. Anthropic and OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Amodei and others in the industry have made similar calls for global coordination in the past, even before the industry’s recent warnings over models becoming too advanced and gaining autonomy.
The AI industry, especially the factions within it that focus on whether the technology is aligned with humanity’s interests, has also long warned about its existential threats. Looks like he nodded off again. ”AI firms have fluctuated on their emphasis on communicating the potential harm from their products, however, at times warning about apocalyptic effects of AI and at others promising it will bring about utopian prosperity. Alex Bores, a proponent of AI regulation whose failed bid for Congress spurred $24m in spending both for and against his campaign from AI-linked political action committees, warned that the AI lobby often seeks to undermine legislation while claiming to support regulation.
Explore more on these topicsAI (artificial intelligence)ComputingAnthropicOpenAISam AltmanElon MuskfeaturesShareReuse this contentMost viewedMost viewed Skip to main contentSkip to navigation The easiest way not to build super-intelligence is for Anthropic to agree not to build it, said David Sacks, co-chair of Trump’s council of advisers on science and technology.
What happens next
Yes, he was talking about artificial superintelligence – an as-yet-nonexistent version of the technology that outcompetes humans in most domains – but his comments, and the chorus of experts that echoed him, jangled plenty of nerves. Another lurch came when Anthropic revealed it had found users dodging controls to use its existing models “in ways that could support biological weapons development” – think novel mosquito-borne or bird flu viruses. And then this weekend, another sharp turn in the form of a three-point plan from the Anthropic boss, Dario Amodei, to “pace the frontier”.
Never mind that his own employees had seeded the borderline panic only a few days earlier, Amodei was here to save us from fears of AI Armageddon, but not before his own spicy warning that the accelerating rate of capabilities meant a swarm of AI agents “could be capable of taking over the entire internet” in six to 12 months. He added: “We need an immediate, indefinite, international moratorium on frontier AI development. ”Explore more on these topicsAI (artificial intelligence)Technology sectorComputingAnthropicOpenAITrump administrationanalysisShareReuse this contentMost viewedMost viewed
Evan Hubinger said in a post on X, external the risk from the models which currently exist was "low" but he was "worried" the technology might develop and improve itself soon to the point where it posed an existential risk to humanity. He did not spell out how he thought AI systems could in future result in humans being wiped out.
The report has been compiled by The Daily Waves using information reported across theguardian.com, bbc.co.uk, theverge.com. Details are presented according to the information available at the time of publication and may change as authorities, organisers or other relevant parties provide updates.