FT: UK AI Safety Institute staff signed off with stress amid frontier model testing

basedjensen · x · 2026-09-22

Per an FT scoop, multiple UK AI Safety Institute staff have been signed off work with stress and are undergoing counselling. Sources cite tight schedules testing unreleased models and alarm at rapidly growing capabilities. A former researcher says cyber and bio teams are particularly worried — models can now find undiscovered code flaws and create viruses "unknown in nature." A DeepMind employee reports similar quits and mental health leave, saying the pace "is not compatible with safety." The reposter criticizes AISI as an EA front complicit in framing from Hugging Face and OpenAI.

Related event: FT Exclusive: UK AI Safety Institute staff take sick leave over burnout(5 posts)→

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