Jacob Caxton, a researcher at the AI startup Anthropic, publicly resigned from his position on Tuesday, citing his concerns about emerging technologies. This action has led to a flood of reactions and messages within the company.
Reactions to Caxton's Resignation
In an internal chat group observed by some Anthropic employees, one staff member wrote: "This is what we've all been saying; the only difference is that now it's been brought up publicly." Another employee added: "Jacob has taken the discussion from the internal chat to the public stage, and that's a good thing." These reactions resonated particularly among AI researchers at Anthropic, OpenAI, Meta, and Google.
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Concerns About AI Safety
Some researchers analyzed Caxton's social media posts, including one where he explained how OpenAI and Anthropic are playing with human lives using this technology. Many AI employees turned to internal messaging, encrypted chats, and private dinners to organize efforts to raise awareness about the dangers of AI.
Among these efforts, actions were taken by AI specialists to halt the development of technology by their senior management to buy time for working on it safely. Others followed Caxton's lead and publicly voiced their concerns. Ivan Habinger, a safety researcher at Anthropic, stated in a social media post that he believes there is more than a 10 percent chance that AI "will destroy all humans in the next decade." Julie Steele, a safety researcher at OpenAI, called for a slowdown in the development of AI technologies.
Andreas Kirsch, a staff member at Google DeepMind, also expressed concerns about the potential for AI to destroy humanity, categorizing these risks into "immediate risks" and "long-term risks." These developments reflect growing concerns among researchers and AI professionals about the safety and control of advancing technologies.
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