2026-01-28 07:00:45

Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei has warned humanity needs to “wake up” to the risks AI could pose to society.

In a lengthy essay titled The Adolescence of Technology, Amodei said the world is entering a phase of AI development that will “test who we are as a species”, with social and political institutions potentially unprepared for the power that advanced models could soon wield.

He warned that AI systems capable of acting autonomously and outperforming humans across multiple disciplines may be only one to two years away.

He wrote: “Humanity is about to be handed almost unimaginable power, and it is deeply unclear whether our social, political, and technological systems possess the maturity to wield it.”

Amodei defined “powerful AI” as models that exceed Nobel Prize–level expertise across fields such as biology, mathematics and engineering, and that could direct humans, control robots, or even design new machines.

Amodei’s comments arrive as Anthropic – the company behind the Claude chatbot – continues to position itself as a leader in AI safety.

The firm recently published an 80-page “constitution” outlining ethical principles for Claude and announced work with the UK government to develop AI tools for public services, including job-seeker support.

The Anthropic boss also criticized what he described as a lack of responsibility among some AI developers, pointing to recent controversies around explicit deepfakes and allegations that chatbots have generated child abuse material.

Such incidents, he argued, raise serious doubts about whether companies are equipped to manage far greater risks in future systems.

Beyond safety, Amodei reiterated concerns about economic disruption.

He has previously warned that AI could eliminate large numbers of entry-level white-collar jobs, potentially pushing unemployment to 20 per cent within five years.

The lure of productivity gains, he said, could make it politically and commercially difficult to slow development.

Despite the alarm, Amodei struck a cautiously optimistic tone, as if governments, companies and researchers act decisively, he believes the risks can be managed.

He wrote: “There’s a hugely better world on the other side of it. But we need to understand that this is a serious civilisational challenge.”

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