AI Minister Says Solutions Exist After Anthropic Researcher Quits Over Safety Fears

Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation Evan Solomon speaks as Minister of Finance and National Revenue Francois-Philippe Champagne looks on during a news conference in Ottawa on Aug. 25, 2026. The Canadian Press/Justin Tang

The federal artificial intelligence minister said the government is closely following the situation at Anthropic after a researcher who resigned from the company Tuesday said people in the industry fear AI could “kill us all.”

Evan Solomon also told reporters Wednesday such warnings aren’t new and that there are both regulatory and technical solutions to the dangers posed by AI.

He pointed to the Liberal government’s efforts to introduce privacy legislation, saying “we’re establishing a new regulator that will have the power to hold these big companies to account.”

Solomon also said the government is investing in AI safety and noted ongoing work by Canadian AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio on safe AI. Solomon added the government is also working with other countries on ways to protect citizens.

He said there are “real concerns” about the negative consequences of AI.

On Tuesday, researcher Jacob Coxon, who worked at both OpenAI and Anthropic, said in a post on X that neither “company is acting responsibly. They are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives.”

He said those who are building AI “earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.”

Adding that this is “not a marketing stunt,” Coxon said that many in the industry will use more measured phrasing when speaking publicly, even as they express fear in private.

Evan Hubinger, a team lead at Anthropic focused on AI safety, chimed in on the post, writing: “we really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans! I personally think it is >10 percent within the next decade.”

Solomon made the comments in Edmonton, where he announced the launch of a new initiative to boost AI literacy among Canadians.

Last week, he announced new voluntary principles for building data centres in Canada, a move in response to growing backlash against data centres across the country.