AGI Could Arrive by 2026–27, Anthropic CEO Warns — White‑Collar Jobs Face Rapid Disruption

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei told a Davos panel that the timeline for artificial general intelligence (AGI) is compressing and that policymakers have far less time to prepare than many assume. Speaking alongside Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis at the World Economic Forum, Amodei warned that AI’s rapid advances risk outpacing labor markets and social institutions.

Near‑term Timeline: Amodei reiterated his forceful projection that human‑level AI could arrive in just a few years, suggesting superhuman capability might materialize as early as 2026 or 2027. "It’s very hard for me to see how it could take longer than that," he said, emphasizing the narrowing window for preparation.

Models Automating Development: A key driver of acceleration, Amodei said, is a feedback loop in which AI systems increasingly automate parts of their own design. At Anthropic, some engineers now treat models as primary code authors: "I don’t write any code anymore. I just let the model write the code, I edit it," he reported, adding that the company could be six to twelve months from models performing most software‑engineering tasks end to end.

"I have engineers within Anthropic who say, 'I don’t write any code anymore. I just let the model write the code, I edit it,'" Amodei said.

Cautious Counterpoint: Demis Hassabis urged a more measured view on certain domains. He assigned a 50% chance of AGI by 2030 but noted that while coding and some engineering tasks are verifiable and easier to automate, areas of natural science that require experimental validation and the creation of original scientific questions remain harder to replace.

"Coming up with the question in the first place, or coming up with the theory or the hypothesis, that’s much harder," Hassabis said. "That’s the highest level of scientific creativity, and it’s not clear we will have those systems."

Economic and Labor Risks: Despite differing timetables, both leaders agreed the economic fallout could be severe for white‑collar roles. Amodei has previously estimated that up to half of entry‑level professional positions could disappear within five years, a warning he reiterated at Davos.

Labor experts also warned that disruption may show up less as outright job elimination and more as structural change: professional roles could be fragmented into smaller, algorithm‑managed tasks, reducing decision‑making autonomy and making work harder to organize or unionize.

"We have to quit asking whether or not AI will replace our jobs and begin asking how does it degrade them?" said Bob Hutchins, CEO of Human Voice Media. "The threat is that the job is being broken down into smaller tasks and managed by an algorithm."

Governance Urgency: Both executives stressed the need for proactive governance. Amodei described the situation as a governance crisis that deserves urgent focus and international cooperation to implement guardrails and reduce the risk of serious harms, from geopolitical tension to malicious use.

Other industry voices have also pointed to real‑world data (for example, from social platforms or vehicles) as an accelerant for training models, though the Davos panel emphasized modeling capacity, verification challenges, and the policy response rather than specific data sources.

Bottom Line: Rapid technical advances, increasing automation of development work, and significant labor‑market implications make AGI one of the most consequential near‑term challenges. Policymakers, employers, and workers will need fast, practical responses to manage transition risks and preserve social stability.