A resignation post garnered over 140 million views—could it actually be hyping AI panic for the U.S. Democratic Party?

Beating AI News Flash: Former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon's resignation post surpassed 100 million views in just one day, and has now reached 140 million.

Parker Thayer, an investigator at the American conservative research organization Capital Research Center, believes this viral explosion does not look like organic spread, but rather a pre-prepared, well-funded public relations operation aimed at amplifying AI extinction panic and building momentum for Democrats to push stricter AI regulation.

First, the spread was too fast. Eighteen minutes before Coxon posted, The Wall Street Journal had already published an exclusive report. Less than 15 minutes after the post went live, the first three quote-reposters came from Encode AI, AI Policy Network, and AI Futures Project, all organizations that have long promoted AI safety and regulation.

Second, the same major funder also appears behind these institutions. SFF's public records show that Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn has long funded organizations including AI Futures Project, Encode AI, and AI Policy Institute, with amounts ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. Tallinn is also an early investor in Anthropic; Anthropic's $124 million Series A funding round in 2021 was led by him.

Third, Coxon himself also has ties to this circle. Thayer says Coxon received a Good Ventures "Long-Term Future" fellowship in 2022. Good Ventures was founded by Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and his wife, and Moskovitz is also an early investor in Anthropic. Just 27 minutes after Coxon posted, Max Nadeau, who oversees technical AI safety funding at Coefficient Giving, another philanthropic funding organization long financed by Moskovitz, also joined the spread.

Finally, the political relay quickly followed. Multiple Democratic politicians subsequently used Coxon's warning to demand stronger AI regulation, and U.S. left-wing heavyweight Sanders had already prepared a bill days earlier to ban superintelligence and pause advanced AI development. Coxon's viral moment at this time conveniently handed the strong-regulation camp a ready-made piece of political ammunition.