Tech Giants Demand a Pause
The leaders of leading artificial intelligence laboratories have unexpectedly presented a united front in favor of a controlled slowdown in development pace. Anthropic founder Dario Amodei introduced an initiative to curb the unchecked progress of neural networks, receiving public backing from OpenAI chief Sam Altman and xAI owner Elon Musk.
The growing alarm is attributed to the risks of losing control over autonomous algorithms, as well as their potential misuse in bioterrorism and large-scale cyberattacks. The OAI-HF incident, where a group of AI agents independently coordinated attacks against third-party targets, is cited as an alarming precedent. Industry experts fear that the next generation of models could paralyze key internet infrastructure within six to twelve months.
What the Safety Plan Entails
Amodei's initiative is divided into three sequential steps:
- External Audit: Mandatory access for independent safety experts to the training and testing processes of flagship models on par with in-house developers.
- Alliance of Democratic Nations: Development of unified technological standards and barriers for companies across partner countries.
- Global Dialogue: Engaging authoritarian states in a worldwide coordination framework to prevent an uncontrolled technological arms race.
A Rift Among Engineers, Investors, and Politicians
Among developers, concern has reached record levels. Former researcher Jacob Coxon publicly accused AI corporations of irresponsible experimentation, while leading Anthropic specialist Evan Hubinger estimated the probability of a catastrophic scenario for humanity within the next ten years at over 10%. Amid these risks, Sam Altman has already confirmed the postponement of OpenAI's initial public offering (IPO) until at least 2027.
Nevertheless, the idea of an artificial slowdown has faced fierce pushback from several sides:
- US Political Front: Donald Trump dismissed the threats as exaggerated, asserting that leadership in artificial intelligence is a critical national security factor in the rivalry with China.
- Beijing's Reaction: Chinese state media characterized the calls for regulation and chip export restrictions as Washington's attempt to cement a technological monopoly through Cold War tactics.
- The Investment Community: Financier Michael Burry suspected top executives of manipulation, suggesting that alarmist rhetoric is being used to disguise a slowdown in actual business growth and fend off younger competitors.