Bilal Chughtai, a former AGI safety researcher at Google DeepMind, said Monday that artificial intelligence poses an existential threat, writing that he "earnestly believe[s] that AI has the potential to kill us all, and that we might be running out of time to avoid this outcome."
Chughtai departed Google DeepMind in July. His public warning, posted two months later, positions him as one of the first researchers to voice such concerns directly from inside Google's AI laboratory.
He called for industry-wide coordination to prevent a "manic race between AI companies" and advocated for development paced at a speed society can manage. His position aligns with recent statements from Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, who called for the industry to reduce the rate at which AI capabilities improve.
Chughtai's warning extends a pattern of alarm from prominent AI researchers. Jacob Coxon resigned from Anthropic on September 9 after three years at OpenAI, asserting that AI labs are racing toward self-improving superintelligence and gambling with human lives. Evan Hubinger of Anthropic cited internal estimates placing extinction risk this decade above 10 percent. Geoffrey Hinton, a pioneer in AI research, called that figure not unreasonable.
The warnings have met skepticism from political and defense leaders. Emil Michael, the Pentagon's chief technology officer, characterized such concerns as a "doom loop," arguing that market forces and government engagement could manage AI risks without pausing development. President Trump dismissed the warnings last week and reiterated his position during a Monday call with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, signaling a preference for rapid technological advancement.
In the U.S. Senate, a bipartisan group including Majority Leader John Thune, Ted Cruz, and Amy Klobuchar are negotiating legislation to impose a duty of care on AI developers, requiring them to design systems that mitigate catastrophic risks.
Google did not comment on Chughtai's departure or statements.
