Fears of an AI takeover are growing after AI researcher Jacob Coxon announced his resignation from Anthropic, claiming AI companies are building products that “could kill us all by the end of the decade.” According to an October 2026 survey from media company Axios and consumer intelligence platform CivicScience, most adults in the United States don’t think AI will positively impact their quality of life or society. The AI takeover theory stems from the concept of the technological singularity, the point at which machine intelligence surpasses human intelligence and becomes a transformational force in society; an AI “takeover” implies technology seizing control of a society that previously belonged to humans, threatening humanity’s very existence rather than merely replacing humans at the top of the totem pole. Experts cite transparency gaps and misuse, urging safety standards and regulation to prevent catastrophe.