Jacob Coxon has played an absolute blinder – he’s combined timing, growing anxieties and the political battleground pre-US midterms to catapult himself to the epicentre of a global debate. His rise to prominence is a comms masterclass, plain and simple.
Here’s the thing. Thousands of people do the job Jacob did before his resignation from Anthropic. Many of them likely know AI may make their job redundant in the future, and I am absolutely convinced a decent proportion of them share his concerns.
Jacob’s message also isn’t unique; better-recognised names have been saying near-identical things for years. “The Godfather of AI” Geoffrey Hinton, Elon Musk, Mo Gawdat, even Sam Altman on occasion. It’s not a new message, but it is a new messenger that people can resonate with.
What makes him such a strong messenger? Unlike Geoffrey Hinton, Elon Musk and Mo Gawdat, he’s still on the ground floor (sort of). Even a voice like Sam Altman, people assume there’s an ulterior motive behind his comments.
With someone like Jacob – he’s much closer to the everyman, a real human who’s curbing his personal ambition for the good of you and me.
And aside from the timing, it’s also the quality of the delivery. It’s an authentic message. If you read his tweets, they’re accessible to laypeople. Technology is an industry filled with difficult jargon, but your average person in the pub can understand his terminology in his X posts.
He then followed up his initial sequence of posts with a hard-hitting media round, facing up to Elon on X and building his brand beyond the first wave of interest. The kind of comms execution that makes an expensive PR manager salivate.
So what does this mean for his career? The world is increasingly becoming about visibility – not just to humans; the PR landscape is increasingly discussing visibility to the same AIs that Jacob is warning us about.
Visibility is now defining everyone’s career – mine included. I leveraged a national TV show to elevate my profile and build my personal brand. I didn’t care about winning The Apprentice, because I’d planned so extensively on translating that recognition into something that actually mattered to me.
Yes, Coxon has given up a six-figure job, but he’ll have no shortage of offers – because he now offers something more than just an AI researcher. Jacob Coxon has a personal brand built around moral conscientiousness that was ahead of everyone else.
Are there comms pros more experienced than me? Sure there are; I know plenty. But they’re not as visible and don’t put themselves out there by risking scrutiny. One of the outcomes of The Apprentice is I’m now a regular on national news for political commentary – and whilst this was part of my long term vision – with every booking comes the risk that I might say something that burns it all down.
So sure, there’s a risk, but it means that I get opportunities that others don’t. Visibility isn’t all that complicated: you cannot buy something you don’t know about.
Yes, Coxon has given up a six-figure job, but he’ll have no shortage of offers – because he now offers something more than just an AI researcher. Jacob Coxon has a personal brand built around moral conscientiousness that was ahead of everyone else.
Wherever he goes next, his employment screams to the world, “these are the good guys”, and he is covertly endorsing their credibility through his employment. Even if he never breathes a word to the media again, that company will get organic coverage that would’ve cost millions in advertising. Thanks to the visibility and credibility he’s built, his endorsement will be worth tenfold his previous salary.
Whatever he does next, his personal brand will precede him. He’s not just “an AI engineer” – he’s the Jacob Coxon, the man who took a stand to save the world. Has a slightly catchier ring to it, don’t you think?
