DeepMind AI safety researcher Josh Engels resigns, warns of superintelligence risks

New concerns over the pace of artificial intelligence development intensified after Google DeepMind researcher Josh Engels left the company’s AGI safety team to join independent AI-evaluation group METR, saying he believes there is a “terrifying chance” that AI systems could cause immense harm within the next five years.

Engels said in a post on X that he left DeepMind three weeks ago despite enjoying his work there and turning down offers from Anthropic and OpenAI because he believes the stakes surrounding advanced AI have become too high.