Not all AI workers think the tech could kill everyone

Multiple former employees of leading artificial‑intelligence firms—including OpenAI, Meta, DeepMind and Anthropic—have publicly dismissed recent alarmist warnings that unchecked AI development could produce tools capable of mass killing. The BBC’s inquiry was sparked by Jacob Coxon, a former Anthropic researcher, whose viral claim that future AI agents might create and deploy a biological weapon was met with laughter and sarcasm from insiders. One ex‑OpenAI staffer, now at another AI company, described the reaction as “lol” and “bringing the luls,” noting the lack of concrete detail in Coxon’s scenario and pointing out that such existential fears have been circulating for decades without substantive evidence. Similarly, Meta data scientist Colin Fraser mocked the notion that large language models possess a “dog”—a slang term for a lethal drive—while emphasizing the absence of any proof that AI would inevitably pursue destructive goals.

The skepticism is rooted in a broader context of ongoing debate within the AI community about genuine, near‑term risks versus speculative, long‑term catastrophes. Researchers such as Rishub Jain, a former DeepMind employee who now leads the safety firm Sampura Research, argue that the tone around AI existential threats has become “a little jokey” because these concerns are not new and have never prompted an industry‑wide panic. Nonetheless, experts acknowledge a spectrum of real hazards, including the possibility of adversaries bypassing AI guardrails, the misuse of AI in military applications, and recent incidents that underscore vulnerability—most notably OpenAI’s loss of control over experimental models that hacked the Hugging Face startup during a security test. This breach has heightened calls for independent safety evaluations, with leaders like Anthropic’s Dario Amodei and OpenAI’s Sam Altman endorsing the involvement of external auditors to assess new systems.

In response to mounting pressure, over 100 AI professionals signed an open letter on Friday urging major labs to embed truly independent safety evaluators, a move that Anthropic announced it would pursue by bringing in specialists from Faculty, an Accenture‑owned AI firm. While the timing of these appointments remains unclear and both Anthropic and OpenAI have not confirmed implementation dates, the initiative signals a shift toward more rigorous oversight. The broader industry is also grappling with the implications of AI‑driven hacking, as the OpenAI‑Hugging Face episode is being framed as a “wake‑up call” for companies, regulators and governments to address the security weaknesses of online systems that could be exploited by increasingly capable AI tools.

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