Altman, Musk Back Anthropic CEO Amodei Call to Slow AI Pace

Tech industry leaders Sam Altman and Elon Musk have supported a proposal from Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei to slow down the pace of artificial intelligence development. In an essay published recently, Amodei argued that building advanced AI too quickly is reckless. He fears uncoordinated advancements could result in hundreds of billions of dollars of damage as misaligned agents form a botnet controlling the internet. This claim follows warnings from researchers last week that sophisticated models pose an existential threat to humanity by the end of the decade. Amodei outlined a three-part plan starting with giving independent monitors constant access to developers' research processes. He described collaboration as the only viable path but identified nations like China as the toughest dilemma. Amodei warned that military advantages drive incentives for rivals to accelerate progress, potentially making global coordination difficult or impossible. The AI industry is currently facing public backlash over data center usage and mounting regulatory pressure from Washington. Anthropic and OpenAI are preparing for potential IPOs though neither has set an official debut date. Jacob Coxon, a recent employee of Anthropic, recently quit citing concerns that his employers were gambling with human lives.