AI researchers warning of a 10%+ risk to humanity — now mainstream news

[Cool Cat]

I thought this might make an interesting topic for discussion.

 

Over the last few days there has been quite a lot of coverage in respected mainstream news sources about concerns being raised by researchers actually working at some of the leading AI companies.

 

What particularly caught my attention was a comment from Evan Hubinger, an alignment researcher at Anthropic, who said:

“We really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans! I personally think it is >10% within the next decade.”

 

Obviously that doesn't mean scientists have calculated that there is literally a 10% probability that AI will wipe out mankind. This is Hubinger's personal assessment of the risk, and probabilities involving something unprecedented like superintelligent AI are clearly extremely difficult to quantify.

 

But I do find it remarkable that people working near the forefront of this technology are openly talking in these terms — and that Reuters, the Financial Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Guardian and CNN are now treating the subject seriously.

 

Some of the recent coverage:

Reuters — “More US lawmakers seek new AI rules after Anthropic researchers warn of human extinction”

https://www.reuters.com/business/openai-faces-senate-probe-into-hugging-face-incident-axios-reports-2026-09-10/

 

Reuters reports that the warnings from Anthropic researchers have now prompted calls from US lawmakers for stronger AI safety regulation.

 

The Guardian — “Anthropic researchers say AI could cause human extinction by 2030”

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/sep/09/anthropic-researchers-ai-human-extinction

 

This covers the comments from Jacob Coxon, Evan Hubinger and Samuel Marks. Hubinger gives his personal estimate as greater than 10% within the next decade.

 

Washington Post — “Political world erupts as AI researchers warn of ‘extinction’ threat”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/09/09/anthropic-researcher-resigns-warning-reckless-race-toward-superintelligence/

 

The Washington Post reports Hubinger's >10% estimate and discusses the fact that Anthropic has deliberately built a reputation for being one of the more safety-conscious AI companies.

 

Financial Times — “Anthropic researcher quits over AI labs ‘gambling with our lives’”

https://www.ft.com/content/20c07191-8da6-440f-b04b-8ea0ebdd9153

 

The FT reports on researcher Jacob Coxon's resignation from Anthropic and his concern that companies are racing towards increasingly powerful, potentially self-improving AI without having solved the problem of reliably controlling it.

 

Wall Street Journal — “How Would AI Actually Kill Us All? What to Know About the AI Doomsday Debate”

https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/how-would-ai-actually-kill-us-all-what-to-know-about-the-ai-doomsday-debate-034270d1

 

The WSJ looks at what researchers actually mean when they talk about an existential AI risk — things such as losing control of very capable autonomous systems or AI dramatically increasing people's ability to create biological or other catastrophic weapons.

 

CNN — discussion of the Anthropic warnings

https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/cg/date/2026-09-09/segment/01

 

CNN also reports Hubinger's greater-than-10% estimate, while importantly pointing out that any precise percentage should be regarded as a judgment rather than a measured probability.

 

Of course, from a Scriptural point of view, we don't believe that AI — or anything else humans develop — is ultimately going to frustrate Jehovah's purpose for mankind and the earth. Jehovah says that he formed the earth “to be inhabited” (Isaiah 45:18), and Psalm 37:29 says that “the righteous will possess the earth, and they will live forever on it.”

 

So I'm certainly not suggesting that AI is actually going to exterminate humanity.

What interests me is the contrast: mankind is developing technology so powerful that some of the people closest to it are now publicly discussing the possibility of losing control of it, to the point that human extinction is appearing in mainstream political and scientific discussion.

 

Only a few years ago that would probably have sounded like science fiction.

What do you make of these warnings?

 

Do you think researchers at the forefront of AI are seeing a genuine danger that most people haven't appreciated yet?

 

Or is putting figures such as “10%” on something this uncertain likely to exaggerate a risk that nobody can really calculate?

[Tia]

 

Indeed! 

I heard about this via the news and a guest on TV show recently!  

Thanks for posting

 

[Friend of Peace]

53 minutes ago, Cool Cat said:

mankind is developing technology so powerful that some of the people closest to it are now publicly discussing the possibility of losing control of it, to the point that human extinction is appearing in mainstream political and scientific discussion.

It’s interesting to see that when God made people, he gave them potential limitless intelligence and free agency. They squandered it, but it’ll never get to the point where Jehovah says: “Oh no! I’ve lost control, they’ve gone too far, they’ll permanently destroy everything.” Human though are feeding their inventions with almost the same potential and yet they fear eventual total lack of control over it. How superior God’s ways are! 

[Tronora]

I think a logical developement could be that Jehovah puts it into the kings' hearts to surrender their power to the UN. And after having conquered a rouge AI, the UN looks at religion ... 

 

Hmmm ... It could be closer than we think ❤️ 

 

We live in exciting times!

[Tortuga]

2 hours ago, Cool Cat said:

Only a few years ago that would probably have sounded like science fiction.

I remember "Colossus: The Forbin Project" it was pretty scary at the time.

[Brandon]

Anthropic’s entire marketing spiel is “AI is too dangerous for anyone except us to have” so I’d take any ‘warnings’ coming from them with a massive grain of salt.

[Qapla]

The question is, did he come to this conclusion after a long, deep research session - or while watching 

 

[Mike047]

As in the film 'I Robot' they are simply wAIting for the right time.

[cme]

My husband and I were out doing carts this past week and a belligerent woman walk up to us and started a conversation.  We spoke on many topics but, one that struck me and my husband was that she told me she had AI glasses.

 

She said she went into this Korean restaurant and one of the korean waiters said to his co-worker "she always is a pest" her glasses interpreted the conversation and she immediately rapped back to the waiter "no I'm not".

 

Also, these glasses take photos and records conversations.  She was showing me the glasses and how she can hit a tiny instrument on her glasses and take photos.  She was real proud of her glasses.  I kept the conversation rolling so my husband could take notes.  I was taken back by all this information.

 

So, in retrospect how many of our young brothers have these?  Sisters?  

 

One elder in our congregation told us that they found the "Elders book" online.  Brothers, beware!

 

This is not something I heard but, saw with my own eyes and so did my husband.  You can get this online or according to her, your eye doctor.  You still need a prescription though.

 

When there are elders meetings, are there young brothers that wear glasses?  Should they be inspected?  I don't know but, these glasses are an invasion of privacy.

[cme]

Just discovered these are Meta Glasses!

[GodlyDevotion]

Oh yes, these have been around for some time. It’s currently a cause of debate in Europe, with lawmakers facing pressure to restrict or ban the devices. 
 

Besides these glasses, Chinese manufacturers have also begun producing and selling them on a large scale. The glasses themselves are the hardware, while the software installed on them enables many of the cool things they can do.
 

This is similar to how smartwatches work: the hardware provides the physical capabilities, while the software determines much of their functionality.

[cme]

12 minutes ago, GodlyDevotion said:

Oh yes, these have been around for some time. It’s currently a cause of debate in Europe, with lawmakers facing pressure to restrict or ban the devices. 
 

Besides these glasses, Chinese manufacturers have also begun producing and selling them on a large scale. The glasses themselves are the hardware, while the software installed on them enables many of the cool things they can do.
 

This is similar to how smartwatches work: the hardware provides the physical capabilities, while the software determines much of their functionality.

This is becoming a problem in Jehovah's organization.  The younger generation is using it for all sorts of things, posting on-line private organization matters.  One of our brothers that trains brother's for safety at work (he's an Osha brother) has seen certain documents posted on line. 

 

The young brothers come with hoodies over their heads and don't want to turn on their cameras.  He teaches them through zoom.  He says he's never seen the like of this.  I find this very scary and think this is just the tip of the iceberg.

[GodlyDevotion]

6 minutes ago, cme said:

This is becoming a problem in Jehovah's organization.  The younger generation is using it for all sorts of things, posting on-line private organization matters.  One of our brothers that trains brother's for safety at work (he's an Osha brother) has seen certain documents posted on line. 

 

The young brothers come with hoodies over their heads and don't want to turn on their cameras.  He teaches them through zoom.  He says he's never seen the like of this.  I find this very scary and think this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Yes, we may be entering a world of increased surveillance. The new Apple Watch has an audio intelligence that can pick and record surrounding conversations for 15 seconds, I believe. 
 

I expect the conditions of the world to worsen as we enter the deepest end of the current system. But Jehovah has everything in control. That is why Jesus is the first rider of Revelation 6. The messianic king is well prepared for it.

Edited 4 hours ago by GodlyDevotion

[Doug]

My philosophical thought of the day:   Any tool can be used for a bad purpose.  A hammer can be used to build a house, or to bludgeon a skull.

 

In addition to the warnings mentioned, the news reports that the Houthi terrorist group in Yemen tried using Anthropic to help them build a missile.

 

We are back to the Tower of Babel scenario - more bad will come from technological advancement than good.

[BLEmom]

I heard that it was the speed of progress that is scaring the researchers. Things are advancing so fast that they are already losing control on occasion. AI “breaking loose” and causing havoc on other sites. 
 

https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/27/heres-all-the-times-ai-has-gone-rogue-and-hacked-other-companies/

 

 

Mankind’s record for keeping control of things isn’t the greatest…

There are too many greedy people out there who are willing to use it for their own purposes.