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Former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon revealed he resigned two months before his stock options would have vested, despite having no financial gain from leaving. Coxon told Axios he departed over concerns about AI safety and competitive pressure. His resignation post on X went viral after he warned advanced AI systems could pose serious risks to humanity.

Jacob Coxon, a researcher who left Anthropic, has gone super viral over his widely-shared resignation post. Coxon has now revealed that he walked away from his role two months before his stock options would have vested, underscoring the weight of the safety concerns behind his exit.

Coxon told Axios in an interview that he had no financial incentive left in staying at Anthropic. He said he left before any of his equity vested, noting that he no longer had anything to gain by boosting the company's valuation. According to Axios, Anthropic requires employees to complete six months at the company before their stock vests, and Coxon had been there for only four months when he resigned. He still holds equity in OpenAI, his previous employer.

A resignation that went viral

Coxon's departure gained attention after he posted about it on X, where his message has since drawn more than 115 million views. In that post, he wrote that people building AI genuinely believe it could wipe out humanity by the end of the decade, and that this was not a marketing stunt.