A former Google DeepMind researcher has added his voice to a growing group of AI experts warning about the potential dangers of increasingly powerful artificial intelligence.
Bilal Chughtai, who worked on artificial general intelligence safety and alignment research at Google DeepMind, said he believes AI could eventually pose an existential threat to humanity.
Chughtai made the comments on Monday after leaving the company. He said society may be running out of time to prevent a catastrophic outcome.
The warning comes as several prominent AI researchers and technology leaders debate whether the industry is moving too quickly.
Former DeepMind researcher raises alarm
Chughtai announced his resignation on X.
He said he had worked at Google DeepMind on AGI safety and alignment research. He then warned that AI has the potential to “kill us all”.
Chughtai also argued that the industry needs to slow its development race.
His comments carry particular weight because of his previous work in AI safety. According to his LinkedIn profile, he worked as a research engineer at Google DeepMind and left the company in July 2026.
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.
Other AI researchers share the concern
Chughtai’s warning follows similar comments from researchers at Anthropic.
Former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon recently said he resigned partly because people working on advanced AI genuinely believe the technology could become capable of killing humanity by the end of the decade.
Anthropic scientist Evan Hubinger then responded to Coxon’s comments.
Hubinger said he agreed with the concern. He also estimated that there was more than a 10% chance that AI could kill all humans within the next decade.
Those claims remain predictions about a possible future. They do not represent evidence that current AI systems can cause human extinction.
Still, the number of researchers publicly discussing the possibility has increased.
Anthropic CEO calls for slower AI development
The debate intensified after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for the industry to slow the development of advanced AI.
Amodei argued that companies need more time to develop safety measures as AI capabilities improve. He proposed stronger independent evaluations and greater coordination between leading AI developers.
The proposal received unusual support from rival technology leaders.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman backed the idea of pacing frontier AI development. Elon Musk also supported Amodei’s call. Google DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis said the overall direction was correct, although details still needed work.
That rare agreement has intensified the debate over AI safety.
Chughtai calls for cooperation
Chughtai said safer AI development remains possible.
However, he argued that companies must cooperate instead of racing against each other.
He called for AI development to move at a pace that society can manage. In his view, developers need enough time to identify emerging risks before they become serious threats.
That argument reflects a growing concern inside the industry.
AI companies are competing to build increasingly capable systems. At the same time, researchers are trying to understand whether existing safety methods can keep up with those advances.
Trump rejects calls for AI slowdown
Not everyone agrees with the warnings.
US President Donald Trump has dismissed calls for tighter AI regulation. He has described the industry’s warnings about regulation as a “hoax”.
The disagreement highlights a growing divide over how governments and technology companies should handle advanced AI.
Supporters of faster development argue that excessive restrictions could weaken American competitiveness. Safety researchers, meanwhile, say companies and governments need stronger safeguards before AI systems become significantly more powerful.
For now, the debate continues.
Chughtai’s warning adds another prominent voice to the growing discussion about whether humanity can control increasingly advanced AI systems before their capabilities move beyond society’s ability to manage them.
