Former Google DeepMind researcher Bilal Chughtai warns AI could “kill us all,” saying humanity may be running out of time to prevent the risk.
A former Google DeepMind researcher has issued a stark warning about the future of artificial intelligence, saying he resigned from the company because he believes advanced AI could ultimately pose an existential threat to humanity.
Bilal Chughtai, who worked on artificial general intelligence safety and alignment research at Google DeepMind, said he left the company in July 2026. In a public statement, he warned that AI development may be moving faster than efforts to make increasingly capable systems safe.
“I earnestly believe that AI has the potential to kill us all,” Chughtai said, adding that humanity could be running out of time to avoid such an outcome.
Former DeepMind researcher raises AI safety concerns
Chughtai’s concerns center on the development of highly capable AI systems and whether researchers will be able to keep those systems aligned with human goals.
AI alignment refers broadly to efforts to ensure that advanced AI systems behave according to human intentions and remain within intended safety boundaries.
Chughtai argued that progress in AI capabilities is advancing rapidly while the methods used to control and align increasingly powerful systems remain comparatively immature.
He said AI could still be developed safely, but argued that companies need greater coordination rather than an increasingly competitive race to build more powerful systems.
Warning comes amid growing AI debate
Chughtai’s comments come shortly after another prominent AI researcher, Jacob Coxon, announced his departure from Anthropic and raised similar concerns about the potential consequences of advanced AI.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has also recently called for the industry to slow the pace of frontier AI development while strengthening safety measures. His proposal has drawn public support from several major figures in the technology industry.
The warnings have intensified a debate within the technology sector over whether AI development is moving quickly enough to deliver economic and scientific benefits while still allowing researchers and governments to address potential risks.
Chughtai joins AI safety organization
Following his departure from Google DeepMind, Chughtai joined BlueDot Impact, a nonprofit organization focused on AI safety education and training.
His move allows him to continue working on AI safety issues outside a major AI laboratory.
While some researchers warn that increasingly autonomous and capable AI systems could create catastrophic risks, other experts dispute the likelihood or timeline of such scenarios. The debate remains an active area of research, with significant uncertainty surrounding how advanced AI systems will develop and what safeguards will ultimately be effective.
For Chughtai, however, the uncertainty itself is part of the reason for greater caution. He has argued that AI development should proceed at a pace that gives researchers and society time to identify and address emerging risks before they become difficult to control.
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