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{beacon} Technology Technology The Big Story Debate explodes over AI 'doomsday' warnings A former Anthropic researcher’s warning that AI could soon destroy humanity broke past the typical tech circles last week, setting off a new firestorm of debate over the technology’s rapid development. © Envato Researchers have warned of AI’s potential danger for years, but nothing struck a chord quite like this week’s X thread from 27-year-old Jacob Coxon, a little-known AI researcher who resigned from Anthropic last week. Coxon, who worked at OpenAI and Anthropic, claimed in a post online that researchers at the firms “believe AI could kill all humans” but still push forward in a race to develop superintelligence — a hypothetical AI agent that outperforms all humans’ cognitive performance. Coxon's assessment went viral with over 165 million views and within a few hours, the debate over AI’s long-term implications was no longer confined within the technology community. Amid the media frenzy, many tech outsiders were left wondering exactly how AI could destroy humanity. The answer is not fully known, though researchers like Coxon say AI’s pace of development offers hints. Connor Leahy, an AI researcher leading the non-profit ControlAI that argues for ending development of superintelligence, said in an interview with The Hill he believes these agents will be entirely autonomous and “pursue their own objectives,” without human beings in mind. “There won’t just be one superintelligence," Leahy told The Hill Thursday. “There will be millions of them running around, competing with each other, competing with humanity for resources, power, influence.” While Coxon’s warnings reached unlikely audiences, the underlying debate is nothing new for the tech sector. It is also no closer to a resolution. Read more in a full report Sunday at TheHill.com Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we’re Julia Shapero and Miranda Nazzaro — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here. Essential Reads How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future: TikTok misled consumers about filtering content for minors, judge rules A Texas judge on Thursday ruled the social media platform TikTok misled consumers about the company’s efforts to filter inappropriate content for minors. In her ruling, Texas District Judge Cory Liu said TikTok’s claims about its content-moderation policies violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The state of Texas alleged TikTok did not remove certain categories of videos, including sexually suggestive … Full Story New Mexico Democrats call on Apple, Google to keep state’s name on map A group of Democratic lawmakers who represent New Mexico urged Apple and Google on Thursday not to adopt President Trump’s proposed renaming of the state to “New America” on their map platforms. On Sunday, the president shared an image of a map of the state on Truth Social with “Mexico” crossed out and replaced by “America.” In a letter addressed to Apple CEO John Ternus and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, five Democrats asked … Full Story Anthropic says it blocked misuse of its AI that could have supported biological weaponsAnthropic said Thursday it has blocked efforts by bad actors to use its artificial intelligence models for malicious activity such as cyberattacks, surveillance, and research that could have led to biological weapons. As AI models grow more powerful, elaborate cyberattacks no longer require sophisticated skills and even lone individuals can create threats that would not have been possible even a year ago, Anthropic said. The … Full Story The Refresh News we’ve flagged from the intersection of tech and other topics: UAE revises AI data center plan after Iranian attacks (Reuters) Elon Musk's X is the AI community group chat (Axios) In Other News Branch out with other reads on The Hill: 9/11, Charlie Kirk anniversaries loom large for Gen Z Raw reactions from older generations to the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, have stuck in the minds of millions of Generation Zers, most of whom weren’t or were barely alive when planes hit the twin towers and the Pentagon. Full Story You’re all caught up. Check out The Hill's Technology page for the latest coverage.Like this newsletter? Take a moment to view our other topical products here 📩 Privacy Policy | Manage Subscriptions | Unsubscribe 400 N Capitol Street NW Suite 650, Washington, DC 20001 Copyright © 1998 - 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. [sailthru_widget name="Sailthru Widget Block" sailthru_list="Technology" title="Technology"]document fetched 2026-09-12 02:58 · canonical https://thehill.com/newsletters/technology/6085640-the-debate-over-ai-doomsday-warnings