AI CEOs Back Calls for Slower Development Amid Growing Safety Concerns

The chief executives of some of the world’s biggest artificial intelligence companies have expressed support for calls to slow the development of advanced AI systems amid growing concerns about potential safety risks.

The development followed repeated warnings from researchers at Anthropic that increasingly powerful artificial intelligence could pose serious risks to humanity. In response, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei proposed measures aimed at slowing the pace of AI development and strengthening safety oversight.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis and xAI owner Elon Musk publicly backed Amodei’s proposal.

Altman said he agreed that the development of advanced AI should be carefully paced. He also supported Amodei’s proposal to allow independent evaluators to gain access to AI companies and assess their safety practices.

Hassabis similarly described Amodei’s proposal as a step in the right direction, while Musk briefly endorsed it, saying, “Dario is right.”

The proposal comes amid an ongoing debate over how governments should regulate the rapidly expanding AI industry and whether companies developing increasingly powerful systems should face stronger external oversight.

Critics, however, have questioned whether voluntary measures proposed by AI companies would provide sufficient safeguards. Some researchers and technology policy advocates have argued that the industry could be attempting to shape its own regulatory framework rather than accepting stronger government supervision.

Sarah Myers West, co-executive director of the AI Now Institute, criticised what she described as “AI exceptionalism,” arguing that existing approaches have failed to establish adequate safety standards for AI products.

Other critics have raised concerns about proposals that could allow AI companies to coordinate their activities under possible antitrust exemptions. Former officials from both the Trump and Biden administrations have questioned whether such arrangements could give established technology companies an advantage over smaller competitors.

The debate also faces resistance from the US government, which has repeatedly emphasised the importance of maintaining American leadership in AI development, particularly in competition with China.

President Donald Trump has rejected calls for slowing AI development, stressing the importance of competition with China. During a visit to Ireland, Trump said that whoever wins the AI race would gain a major strategic advantage, while also indicating that some safeguards could be introduced.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has also indicated that Congress should not necessarily take the lead in regulating AI safety, instead placing significant responsibility on technology companies themselves.

The latest debate highlights the growing tension between efforts to accelerate AI innovation and calls for stronger safeguards as the technology becomes increasingly powerful and widely used.

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