Anthropic researcher who quit over AI safety walked away before his stock vested
An Anthropic researcher resigned over AI safety concerns, forfeiting his unvested equity just months before it was due to mature. He criticized both Anthropic and OpenAI for prioritizing a race toward superintelligence over safety, despite Anthropic's public commitment to risk management.
Why it matters
The resignation highlights internal tensions within top AI labs regarding the balance between rapid commercial development and long-term safety protocols.
An Anthropic researcher who resigned this week over AI safety fears gave up his entire stake in the company to do it, walking out two months before his equity was due to vest.Jacob Coxon, 27, spent three years doing pretraining research at OpenAI before moving to Anthropic in July. He lasted four months. Staff need six for their stock to vest. His resignation post on X on September 9, now past 130 million views, said neither lab is acting responsibly and that both are "racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives".Axios first reported the forfeited equity, after Coxon told the outlet on Wednesday that "I no longer have anything to gain by juicing up Anthropic's valuation" and that he left before any of his shares vested.
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