A Google Employee Said He Quit Because He’s Worried about Superintelligent AI
A Google employee said he resigned from the company, citing the pursuit of powerful artificial intelligence as “inherently irresponsible.”
Robert O’Callahan, who worked at Google DeepMind, wrote in an X post that his team was developing chips to make AI faster and cheaper and that he believed AI was already “progressing too fast.”
He shared a resignation letter on his personal blog that he said he sent to colleagues on Friday, in which he wrote that he couldn’t “turn a blind eye” to the impact of his work because it “would not be a Jesus-following thing to do.” He describes himself as a Christian in his blog’s bio.
“This has not been an easy decision. I love my colleagues and my work environment, and being paid handsomely to solve fun puzzles has been amazing,” he wrote. “But my team’s goal is ultimately to make AI much cheaper and lower-latency, and I don’t think that’s good for people right now: I firmly believe AI progress is currently far too rapid (and I have doubts about the destination too).”
Business Insider could not establish how long O’Callahan, who says he is based in New Zealand, worked for Google. Approached for comment, O’Callahan referred Business Insider to the blog post. Google declined to comment.
O’Callahan joins a string of employees from AI companies who have either quit over safety concerns or sounded the alarm from within. (Read more from “A Google Employee Said He Quit Because He’s Worried about Superintelligent AI” HERE)
