Anna Wang says AI labs lack a plan for self-improvement risks
Anna WangAnthropic employee; former Google DeepMind employee; explicitly personal capacity.
Wang supports the warning that researchers lack a viable scientific plan for risks from recursively self-improving AI. She nevertheless believes she can reduce risks from inside a lab and explicitly respects Coxon and others who choose to leave.
“There is not yet a viable scientific plan to solve risks from recursively self-improving AI. Please look up!”
Original post
Where this statement fits
Is Anthropic acting responsibly while advancing toward recursive self-improvement?
Jacob Coxon resigned from Anthropic and said that Anthropic and OpenAI are acting irresponsibly by racing toward self-improving superintelligence. In a fuller interview, he praised Anthropic's current practices and denied that it was already cutting corners; his criticism concerns the competitive race and the pressures he expects it to create. Responses dispute the evidence and timing of catastrophic-risk forecasts, whether continued work inside AI labs can be justified, and whether governments should pause development or regulate its continuation. The record distinguishes these disagreements from arguments about the rhetoric of public warnings.
Source and context
Original post
About this source
Full primary public post and available surrounding thread. Related context: https://x.com/a_nnawang/status/2097720576047710674 https://x.com/a_nnawang/status/2097720578254028909 Speaker and position scope are explained in the linked event.
Before the quotation
Wang identifies herself as a former Google DeepMind employee now at Anthropic and says the concern is common among her peers. She states that she is writing in a personal capacity.
After the quotation
In the next post, Wang says working inside the lab may be better for reducing risk, while strongly respecting and endorsing others including Jacob who think outside work is better.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Conditional defense of insider safety work, alongside agreement that the risk remains unresolved.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Anthropic, OpenAI
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- The Dispute Index
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- Anna Wang says AI labs lack a plan for self-improvement risks
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- https://disputeindex.com/events/236-wang-supports-the-warning-that-researchers-lack-a
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The Dispute Index. "Anna Wang says AI labs lack a plan for self-improvement risks". First published: 2026-09-10. Last updated: 2026-09-30. https://disputeindex.com/events/236-wang-supports-the-warning-that-researchers-lack-a