On September 8, Jacob Coxon, a 27-year-old Anthropic employee, posted a resignation statement on X that ricocheted around the internet. He quit in protest of what he saw as the company’s suicidally reckless pursuit of artificial general intelligence. To the AI community, an Anthropic employee believing that the technology their company is developing might end the world is not exactly news. (Anthropic was founded by former OpenAI employees who believed OpenAI, if left unchecked, would do just that.) But an Anthropic employee publicly quitting in protest is. Afterward, a debate broke out: If you’re a lab employee who believes in these risks, what should you do? Is it best to leave in protest? Or is it better to agitate from the inside, close to the seat of power? And how would the choice affect your friendships and community? “For me, there’s quite a distinction between my rational beliefs and the things I feel in my gut,” says Coxon. “If you’d asked me to narrate my opinions when entering Anthropic and when leaving Anthropic, they would probably sound pretty similar. But in terms of the actual feeling between the start and the end, it just felt very, very different.” Coxon joins a small set of employees of OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind who, over the years, chose to walk away. For our Cover Story, in collaboration with Asterisk Magazine, we brought together eight of them. They don’t share the same concerns or the same p(dooms) — in fact, they wouldn’t necessarily agree that p(doom) is a coherent concept. But together, they provide a candid view of the AI race and the individual calculus many employees face. Read their interviews in full: intelligencer.visitlink.me/k…

In a recent speech, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth promised to rid the military of ‘fatties’ and ‘radicals.’ This campaign against woke has found few Reds at West Point — but it has upended military education, leaving alumni and professors angry. nymag.com/intelligencer/arti…

State violence has been largely embraced by Trump and the MAGA right. Pete Hegseth wants to broadcast it. nymag.com/intelligencer/arti…

When Long Island congressional candidate Chris Gallant’s bondage photos leaked, he decided to lean in instead of dropping out. It seems to be working. nymag.com/intelligencer/arti…

Katie Zacharia is out as White House Press Secretary in half a Scaramucci. She flunked her appearances on Hannity and Fox & Friends, much like the bar exam, and it seems that was the final straw. nymag.com/intelligencer/arti…

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The Politico report on Susie Wiles follows several top female administration officials being replaced by men. nymag.com/intelligencer/arti…

In China, the fear of getting left behind by AI has created a powerful new prosperity gospel. Now everyone — rich and poor, old and young — is rushing to learn it as fast as possible. nymag.com/intelligencer/arti…

James Dolan is hosting a fundraiser for Bruce Blakeman, Governor Hochul’s Republican rival, at Madison Square Garden ahead of the Knicks’ final preseason game. nymag.com/intelligencer/arti…

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Mayor Mamdani is facing another blow-up with his base, this time about NYPD commissioner Jessica Tisch — which was probably inevitable. nymag.com/intelligencer/arti…

Kirsten Gillibrand says she set out to regulate crypto, Nate Weisberg reports. Now, she finds herself in an ethical morass. nymag.com/intelligencer/arti…

Katie Zacharia says she passed the bar exam in … China? Moments after her poor debut, the White House press secretary stepped in it again when asked a basic question about her credentials as a lawyer. nymag.com/intelligencer/arti…

White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia’s debut was pure amateur hour — or amateur 14 minutes. At her first press conference she awkwardly answered softball questions, called her husband ‘my president,’ then wrapped early. Here are the lowlights. nymag.com/intelligencer/arti…

The Trump White House is calling on Kimberly Guilfoyle, ex-fiancée of Don Jr., to resign as ambassador to Greece nymag.com/intelligencer/arti…

The closer we get to the end of this election, the clearer it is that Republicans should have found a way to muzzle their unpopular president. Unhappy non-MAGA 2024 Trump voters are the ball game, and parading Trump around won’t win them over. nymag.com/intelligencer/arti…