A former Google DeepMind research engineer, Bilal Chughtai, has raised fresh concerns about the potential dangers of rapidly advancing artificial intelligence, warning that AI could eventually pose an existential threat to humanity.
Chughtai, who worked on artificial general intelligence (AGI) safety and alignment research at Google DeepMind, resigned from the company in July 2026. He publicly discussed his concerns on September 15, joining a growing number of researchers and technology professionals calling for greater caution in the development of advanced AI systems.
The former researcher said he believed AI had the potential to cause catastrophic harm if its capabilities continued advancing faster than efforts to ensure that the technology remains aligned with human objectives.
According to Chughtai, AI alignment research has not progressed quickly enough to match the development of increasingly capable systems. He argued that the gap could become dangerous if future AI systems acquire capabilities that make them difficult for humans to control.
His warning comes amid increasing debate within the technology industry over the risks associated with developing highly capable and potentially self-improving AI systems.
Chughtai is not the only former AI researcher to have recently raised such concerns. Jacob Coxon, who previously worked at Anthropic, resigned earlier in September and publicly warned about the risks associated with the race toward increasingly autonomous AI.
Other researchers have also called for a slower and more coordinated approach to the development of advanced AI. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently urged AI companies and governments to introduce measures aimed at managing the pace of frontier AI development, while OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Elon Musk have expressed support for aspects of the broader safety discussion.
Chughtai has stressed that his concerns do not necessarily mean safe AI development is impossible. Rather, he has called for stronger cooperation among technology companies and greater attention to safety and alignment research as AI capabilities continue to improve.
The debate comes as major AI companies increasingly face pressure to demonstrate that advanced systems can be developed without creating unacceptable risks.
Meanwhile, Reuters reports that OpenAI, Anthropic and Google DeepMind have been discussing cooperation on AI safety, reflecting growing concern within the industry about the potential consequences of increasingly powerful AI systems.
The warnings have intensified a wider global debate over how governments, researchers and technology companies should manage the development of advanced artificial intelligence while preserving its potential benefits.
