The Anthropic researcher-turned-whistleblower says he was 'working to automate' himself
Former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon testified before the New York City Council, warning that AI labs are aggressively working to automate the research process itself. He expressed concern that this could lead to a future where humans lose control over AI development.
Why it matters
The testimony brings attention to the 'existential risk' narrative within the AI industry and the potential for rapid, autonomous technological acceleration.
AI researcher Jacob Coxon testified about AI risks before New York City lawmakers. Adam Gray/Getty Images Jacob Coxon, the ex-Anthropic researcher whose resignation made headlines, warned of AI risks at an NYC council hearing. "At my last job, I was, in some sense, working to automate myself," Coxon testified. Automating AI research could soon leave humans unable to control its outcomes, Coxon said. Automated AI research is on the horizon, a former Anthropic and OpenAI researcher-turned-whistleblower said, warning it could leave humans totally unable to control what comes next. Jacob Coxon, the 27-year-old who publicly resigned from Anthropic last month after working as a capabilities researcher, made the comments before New York City lawmakers on Monday as he sounded the alarm that AI could threaten humanity's survival. Coxon testified that automating AI research has become "the primary goal" of top frontier AI labs.
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