Dario Amodei, chief executive of AI startup Anthropic, has warned that humanity is entering a phase of artificial intelligence development that will 'test who we are as a species', urging the world to 'wake up' to the risks. In a 19,000-word essay titled 'The adolescence of technology', he described the arrival of highly powerful AI systems as 'potentially imminent' and 'almost unimaginable power' that our social, political and technological systems may not be mature enough to handle.
Amodei, whose company is reportedly worth $350bn (£255bn), wrote that 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'. He said his essay was an attempt to 'jolt people awake' to the need for action on AI safety, noting that the world was 'considerably closer to real danger' in 2026 than in 2023.
The Anthropic boss defined 'powerful AI' as a model smarter than a Nobel prizewinner across fields such as biology, mathematics, engineering and writing, capable of controlling robots and designing them for its own use. He warned that such systems, which could autonomously build their own systems, could be as little as one to two years away, adding: 'If the exponential continues... then it cannot possibly be more than a few years before AI is better than humans at essentially everything.'
Amodei also criticised some AI companies for 'disturbing negligence' regarding child safety, alluding to recent controversies over sexualised deepfakes created by Elon Musk's Grok AI. He cautioned that the economic prize from AI, such as productivity gains from eliminating jobs, could be so great that no one applies the brakes, calling it 'the trap'. However, he expressed optimism that 'if we act decisively and carefully, the risks can be overcome'.
