Playing with human lives: Scientists are quitting Google and OpenAI over AI fears
Leading researchers are leaving Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic in large numbers (photo: Magnific)
Former Google DeepMind researcher Bilal Chughtai warned that humanity has less and less time to prevent the catastrophic consequences of AI development. He has become the latest specialist to leave the company over concerns about the direction in which artificial intelligence is developing, according to Chughtai’s post on X.
Wave of concern among AI developers
Chughtai’s statement adds to a series of similar warnings from other leading specialists in the field, who point to the uncontrolled development of superintelligence capabilities.
What happened before?
Departures from Anthropic and OpenAI. This month, developer Jacob Coxon left his position, accusing both former employers of “playing with human lives” because of the aggressive race to develop superintelligence.
Dario Amodei’s essay. At the end of the week, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published a lengthy piece calling on the community to slow down the development of the most advanced systems in order to avoid losing control over them.
Support from industry leaders. In a rare show of solidarity, Amodei’s call for caution was publicly supported by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceX AI head Elon Musk.
“I am optimistic that navigating AI safely is possible. To do so, we need to coordinate to avoid this manic race between AI companies,” Chughtai wrote.
“We need to pace AI development to a speed that society can handle, where emerging risks can be addressed before extreme harm is realised. We need much more transparency into AI development to ensure that AI companies are not imposing unacceptable levels of risk on us all,” he added.
I recently resigned from Google DeepMind, where I worked on AGI safety and alignment research. At Google, I witnessed AI development first hand. I too am extremely concerned by the default trajectory of this technology. I earnestly believe that AI has the potential to kill us…
— bilal (@bilalchughtai_) September 14, 2026
Seeking solutions and safe navigation
Despite the seriousness of his concerns, Bilal Chughtai remains optimistic about the possibility of safely guiding the technology in the future.
According to updated information on his LinkedIn profile, after leaving Google DeepMind, he joined the nonprofit organization BlueDot Impact.
In his new role, Chughtai will focus on training professionals from various fields in methods for ensuring the safety and control of artificial intelligence.
