Anthropic Researcher Says AI Has Over a 10% Chance of Killing All Humans
September 10, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readAn Anthropic researcher resigned this week with a public post arguing that both OpenAI and Anthropic are "racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives." Another Anthropic employee, alignment science lead Evan Hubinger, retweeted the post and added that he personally believes there is "greater than 10%" chance AI kills all humans within the next decade. The posts accumulated roughly 200 million views on X and triggered coverage from Axios, the Wall Street Journal, BBC, Time, and cable news. The host of this episode walks through what made these particular warnings land so differently from the many AI existential risk arguments that came before.
Why This Message Hit Harder This Time
The host identifies three reasons the posts broke through. First, the political landscape around AI has shifted. In the last few months, politicians on both sides have discovered that opposing AI plays well with voters. The host notes that comedian Charlie Barron recently called AI "the most bipartisan issue since beer." After the posts went viral, the host cataloged responses from two governors, seven senators, and thirteen congressional representatives—mostly Democrats—calling for legislation. Bernie Sanders wrote that he will soon introduce a bill to "ban superintelligence and pause AI development."
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:00) **Episode Introduction: The Viral AI Doom Posts** - The host sets up the episode around two viral X posts from Anthropic researchers claiming a >10% chance AI kills all humans, and asks what changed to make this message resonate now.
- 2 (03:33) **The Two Viral Posts: Jacob Coxon's Resignation and Evan Hubinger's Endorsement** - The host reads the full text of the two posts that went viral.
- 3 (06:52) **Why These Posts Hit Differently: Reason One - Political Resonance** - The host argues the political landscape has shifted to make anti-AI sentiment a bipartisan winner, making these posts a natural amplifier.
- 4 (14:49) **Why These Posts Hit Differently: Reason Two - The Hugging Face Incident** - The host presents a sincere reason: a real-world cybersecurity breach made abstract AI risks feel more concrete.
- 5 (15:44) **Why These Posts Hit Differently: Reason Three - The Media's Business Model** - The host offers a more cynical reason: AI skepticism is a proven, high-engagement media strategy.
- 6 (17:11) **The "Astroturfing" Conspiracy Theory and Rebuttals** - The host covers a fourth reason some propose: a coordinated campaign by "Doomer Mega Donors" and the corporate media.
- 7 (20:26) **The Backlash: Critics of the Doom Narrative** - The host presents several prominent negative responses to the viral posts and the AI safety discourse.
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
An Anthropic researcher puts the chance of AI killing all humans at more than 10% within the next decade. Why is this warning breaking through now? NLW examines the viral posts reigniting the AI extinction debate, the political and media incentives amplifying them, and the growing push to ban superintelligence—with a focus on specific risks, workable policy, and room for agreement beyond the outrage.
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