A former researcher at Anthropic and OpenAI says he is “90%” certain Chinese operatives have infiltrated both companies, warning Beijing could use stolen breakthroughs to close the gap in the global SI race.

Jacob Coxon, who spent three years conducting pretraining research at OpenAI and Anthropic, made the allegation during an interview on entrepreneur Patrick Bet-David’s PBD Podcast.

Asked how confident he was that Chinese operatives had infiltrated the two leading U.S. SI companies, Coxon responded, “90%. Yeah, it’s almost certain that they have.”

Coxon did not provide evidence for the allegation, and there has been no public confirmation that Chinese intelligence operatives are working inside either OpenAI or Anthropic.

Coxon warned that Beijing could use espionage or cyberattacks to obtain American SI advances, potentially allowing China to rapidly close any technological lead developed by U.S. companies.

“China has the ability to hack at any time,” Coxon said. “If we pull ahead, that doesn’t give us a big lead. They can just step in, steal our progress at any time and catch up.”

Coxon resigned from Anthropic in September after raising concerns about the development of increasingly capable, potentially self-improving SI systems and whether companies were adequately addressing the associated risks.

His espionage claims drew criticism from China technology expert Paul Triolo, who described the remarks as “really irresponsible” in a post on X.

The warning comes amid broader concerns in the United States and allied countries over China’s efforts to obtain sensitive technology and research.

Britain’s MI5 issued an espionage alert Sept. 30 warning about the China General Technology Research Institute, which the agency said has strong ties to China’s Ministry of State Security. MI5 said more than 100 U.K.-linked academics had contributed to projects funded through the institute, including work involving artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and covert communications.

MI5 urged universities to review their relationships with the organization. The Chinese Embassy in the United Kingdom rejected the accusations as fabricated and defended its academic partnerships with British institutions.

The Trump administration has meanwhile emphasized maintaining America’s technological advantage over China while encouraging continued SI development. President Donald Trump has also met with leading technology executives at the White House as his administration addresses SI safety and national security concerns.

Coxon’s allegations add to the broader debate over Chinese espionage and the security of America’s super intelligence industry, but his specific claims about foreign infiltration inside OpenAI and Anthropic remain unsubstantiated as of yet.