Anthropic researcher resigns, warns of 'self-improving superintelligence' ahead of reported IPO
An Anthropic researcher resigned and warned the company is racing toward self-improving superintelligence, a message co-signed by its alignment lead. TechCrunch’s Equity podcast discussed the warning and other tech news.
TechCrunch reported that the timing, with Anthropic reportedly preparing for an IPO, makes the warning land differently. The resignation and the co-signed message come as the industry races toward increasingly capable models, the report said.
On the latest episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O’Kane discussed the AI safety warning and what it says about that race. The episode also covered Apple’s first big event under new CEO John Ternus and more of the week’s headlines.
According to the podcast, Apple leaned heavily into AI at its hardware event. The always-on features baked into the Watch and AirPods may matter more than the splashy new foldable iPhone, the hosts said.
The episode also looked at Stokes Space’s $1 billion raise, which TechCrunch said reflects a launch market that is suddenly wide open now that SpaceX is winding down its Falcon rockets.
Investors poured $2 billion into coding startup Cognition at a $48 billion valuation, a deal the podcast used to examine how much room venture capitalists think is left in AI coding.
The hosts also noted a $50 million seed round for floating nuclear reactors and the scramble to power AI data centers.