From PCMAG · James Peckham · · 2m
Altman names two ways AI could go very badly
After a resignation warning and agentic AI security incidents, the heads of OpenAI and Anthropic are suddenly talking about hitting the brakes.
In brief
After a resignation warning and agentic AI security incidents, the heads of OpenAI and Anthropic are suddenly talking about hitting the brakes. The biggest AI labs are now publicly asking for rules they could simply adopt themselves, and Washington is calling out the gap between the ask and the action. Originally…
AI bosses talk brakes
Over one weekend, the leaders of the top labs posted about slowing large language model work, after security incidents involving agentic AI and a resignation warning that went viral.
Altman joins the chorus
Sam Altman first agreed with Anthropic's Dario Amodei in a short Saturday tweet, then posted a longer message warning of ways "AI progress could go very badly."
“AI progress could go very badly”
The resignation that lit it
An Anthropic researcher quit last week over safety, saying OpenAI and Anthropic are both gambling with our lives by pushing self-improving AI.
“gambling with our lives”
Risk one: losing control
Altman called handing the future to AI unacceptable, though he never spelled out what losing control would look like for OpenAI.
“We are unapologetically on Team Humanity, and AI must always serve people.”
Risk two: power piles up
His second worry is concentration: one country or one lab pulling far ahead, or a single owner using powerful AI to push their worldview on everyone.
“the results could be extremely dystopian”
Rules without waiting
Altman says OpenAI would welcome a federal framework of consistent safety requirements, but that shared standards for misalignment, monitoring and safety could start before Congress acts. He offered no specifics.
Amodei's three steps
Anthropic's plan: third-party evaluators inside each company, one set of standards across firms, and agreements with foreign governments to block dangerous uses.
Just slow down yourselves
White House science adviser David Sacks said labs should pause on their own instead of demanding cover, accusing them of dressing up a cartel as regulation.
“Stop pretending you need anyone else's permission.”
Washington isn't buying it
Trump posted that a high-IQ president is the only guardrail AI needs and jabbed at Amodei. JD Vance called the industry's plea for regulation a possible Trojan horse.
“It feels a little bit to me like a bit of a Trojan horse.”
The big picture
The biggest AI labs are now publicly asking for rules they could simply adopt themselves, and Washington is calling out the gap between the ask and the action.
