Ex-Google DeepMind Engineer Sounds Alarm: 'Running Out of Time' to Halt AI Apocalypse
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A former Google DeepMind safety researcher, Bilal Chughtai, has delivered a stark warning, claiming humanity is 'running out of time' to prevent an AI apocalypse, just months after leaving the tech giant. His urgent message, shared this week, amplifies growing fears from within the AI community that advanced artificial intelligence could pose an existential threat to humanity within the next decade. Chughtai's alarm echoes similar recent resignations and dire predictions from other top AI researchers, including Anthropic Jacob Coxon, who also warned of AI potential to 'kill all humans' by 2030. This surge in insider warnings has prompted a rare display of unity among rival AI giants like Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google DeepMind, with their CEOs — Dario Amodei, Sam Altman, and Demis Hassabis, respectively — publicly backing calls to slow down AI development and exploring shared safety standards. However, the global response remains divided, with UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk demanding stronger AI regulation, while US President Donald Trump has dismissed such warnings as a 'hoax.' The immediate future will likely see intensifying debates over effective AI governance, especially as the newly launched Pro-Human AI Coalition advocates for prioritizing public interest over corporate profit. As regulatory frameworks like the EU AI Act come into force and US states pass their own laws, the industry's voluntary efforts will face increasing scrutiny. The coming months will be critical in determining whether the tech world can collectively pivot towards genuinely safe AI or continue accelerating towards an unpredictable future.