People are flooding X with joke resignation announcements imitating the viral AI extinction warning

Sep 10, 2026 09:51 PM - 4 days ago 9

A smartphone surface displays the logos of OpenAI and Anthropic against a blurred backdrop of the American flag

Jacob Coxon said OpenAI and Anthropic were some racing toward self-improving superintelligence while "gambling pinch our lives." Imen Ben Youssef / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images

The AI world has turned 1 researcher's extinction informing into its latest copy-and-paste meme: resign dramatically, impeach your institution of racing recklessly toward disaster, past uncover that the expected threat is simply a self-painting clone tunnel.

The inclination was sparked by Jacob Coxon, a erstwhile Anthropic interrogator who antecedently worked astatine OpenAI. On Wednesday, he announced his resignation from Anthropic pinch a stark informing astir the AI race.

"Neither institution is acting responsibly," Coxon wrote connected X of Anthropic and OpenAI. "They are racing consecutive to self-improving superintelligence and gambling pinch our lives."

Dozens of X users person since mirrored Coxon's grave, tightly system announcement — only to switch the prospect of quality extinction for much ordinary, and absurd, master hazards.

Jae Holzman, a elder newsman astatine Heatmap, wrote that they had resigned from the Acme Corporation aft years of "pre-gag research" astatine Acme Paint. In a adjacent riff connected Coxon's warning, Holzman said Acme was racing toward "self-painting clone passageway technology."

That is simply a reference to the "Looney Tunes" cartoons successful which Wile E. Coyote paints a clone passageway connected a stone face; the Road Runner runs done it, while Coyote crashes into the wall.

Designer Isha Taghvaei's widely viewed post started pinch Coxon's nonstop opening earlier giving measurement to lyrics from Natasha Bedingfield's 2004 popular hit, "Unwritten." In spot of self-improving superintelligence, Taghvaei wrote that OpenAI and Anthropic were "releasing their inhibitions" and "feeling the rainfall connected their skin."

I resigned from Anthropic today. I spent the past 3 twelvemonth doing pretraining investigation astatine some OpenAI and Anthropic. Neither institution is acting responsibly. They are releasing their inhibitions and emotion the rainfall connected their skin. No 1 other tin consciousness it for them, only they tin le

— isha (@ishadesign) September 9, 2026

Software technologist Alan Rice used the aforesaid Coxon-style resignation template earlier pivoting to "plants and birds and rocks and things," lyrics from "A Horse With No Name," the 1971 opus by the stone set America.

And Kabir Sethi, maturation lead astatine Phoenix Trade, adapted Coxon's informing for crypto: His blockchain employer was racing toward "seamless world trading of immoderate asset" and gambling pinch his money.

The jokes flick nosy astatine a very existent fearfulness among immoderate group building frontier AI. Coxon said that starring labs privately fearfulness AI could origin quality extinction by the extremity of the decade.

Evan Hubinger, who leads alignment accent testing astatine Anthropic, backed Coxon's broader warning, saying he believed location was a greater-than-10% chance AI could termination each humans wrong the adjacent decade.

Geoffrey Hinton, meanwhile, has said a 10% chance of AI sidesplitting humanity is not unreasonable, while Toby Ord, the Oxford interrogator and writer of "The Precipice," puts the consequence astatine astir 1 successful 10 by 2100.

Startup workers person besides recovered their ain existential dangers. Ian Tracey, a elder unit package technologist moving connected applied AI astatine Ramp, joked that the fintech institution was racing toward "self-closing books" pinch nary scheme for what happens erstwhile businesses prevention excessively overmuch clip and money.

I resigned from @tryramp today. I spent the past twelvemonth location doing applied AI activity and neither CEO is acting responsibly. They are racing toward self-closing books pinch nary clear scheme for what happens erstwhile companies person saved excessively overmuch clip and money. More thoughts below.

— Ian Tracey (@ian_dot_so) September 9, 2026

Air CEO Shane Hegde likewise repurposed Coxon's look to pass of a self-organizing workspace that mightiness fto imaginative teams beryllium creative.

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Thibault is simply a tech newsman astatine Business Insider's London office.He covers the intersection of exertion and activity — focusing connected AI’s effect connected the workplace, occupation and cognitive skills, and really economical changes are affecting careers.Before moving to the trending team, Thibault covered world affairs, including the Russia-Ukraine war, tensions successful the South China Sea, and Russia’s system connected the news desk.He has antecedently worked astatine the Daily Express and held internships astatine Agence France-Presse, Politico Europe, and Factal.Il parle français. Habla español.Email Thibault astatine [email protected], link pinch him connected LinkedIn @ThibaultSpirlet, aliases travel him connected X @ThibaultSpirlet and BlueSky @thibaultspirlet.bsky.social.Expertise

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