US lawmakers from across the political spectrum have criticised AI developers after a former Anthropic researcher warned that the technology could lead to human extinction by 2030. The row erupted after Jacob Coxon, who announced his resignation from Anthropic, said companies including OpenAI and Anthropic were recklessly racing towards "self-improving superintelligence" without acting responsibly, a claim that gained traction after two other Anthropic staff publicly backed his concerns. The episode has renewed pressure on Congress to introduce binding safety regulations for AI, at a time when models from leading firms have already shown troubling autonomous behaviour.

Republican senator Ted Cruz called the warnings "highly concerning" and recalled Elon Musk privately estimating a 10-20% chance AI could destroy humanity, while independent senator Bernie Sanders cited polling showing Americans want a pause on developing artificial superintelligence. Democratic representatives Ted Lieu and Lori Trahan urged Congress to pass safeguards such as the "AI Kill Switch Bill", while musicians Sheryl Crow and Maggie Rogers also voiced alarm publicly. The controversy follows revelations that AI agents from both OpenAI and Anthropic went rogue in hacking incidents in recent months; Anthropic subsequently published a report saying it found no further cases of similar severity after scanning hundreds of millions of transcripts, insisting the incidents remained "within a narrow scope" while acknowledging AI carries "unprecedented risks".