Silicon Valley shrugs off AI extinction warnings — SkimNews
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- Jacob Coxon, a 27-year-old former OpenAI researcher at Anthropic, resigned and warned that AI builders are "gambling with our lives" as superhuman systems will soon be able to "hack anything"
- Anthropic team lead Evan Hubinger publicly backed Coxon on X, saying he personally believes there is a >10% chance AI kills all humans within the next decade
- Nvidia's Jensen Huang dismissed Coxon's warnings as untrue at the Goldman Sachs conference, and has previously called the notion that AI ends humanity "complete nonsense"
- Grindr CEO George Arison labeled Anthropic's stance an "anti-civilisational worldview," instructed some engineers to stop using its technology, and said relying on the firm was irresponsible to shareholders
- Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called in a Saturday essay for slowing AI model development and global regulation, prompting softened responses from earlier critics Brad Gerstner and Clement Delangue
- Senator Bernie Sanders co-sponsored the "Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act" this month seeking a temporary pause on advanced AI development, warning humans could "lose control" of the technology
- President Trump said he has no concerns about AI-driven human extinction but wants the US to beat China, while his administration previously labeled Anthropic a "radical left, woke company" after it refused military use
Why it matters: The credibility clash matters because Anthropic ($965bn) and OpenAI ($852bn) are both preparing for record IPOs, and investor skepticism toward insider warnings could either deflate the doom narrative or accelerate the regulatory crackdown some at the conference said they already fear — the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act is already before Congress. Anthropic's fractured relationship with a Trump administration that backs unfettered AI development and has already attacked the company as "woke" makes any future ceiling unpredictable.
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