A tech titan’s call to slow the artificial intelligence arms race ignited fierce reaction online, with some fellow executives insisting that the United States can’t surrender its lead role in the rapidly evolving industry, while others warned that unbridled progress could threaten the very future of mankind.
In an essay published Saturday, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei urged caution and warned that advances in AI technology could outpace humans’ ability to control the technology.
“We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models. Progress will still seem fast, and we must make wise use of the time we gain,” Amodei wrote.
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“Left unchecked, it could outrun our ability to understand and control these systems, and so must be pursued very carefully, if at all,” Amodei added.
The essay drew high-profile support from tech executives, with SpaceX CEO and xAI founder Elon Musk backing Amodei, posting, “Dario is right.”
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman similarly posted on X, writing, “I agree with Dario that we need to pace the frontier.”
Former OpenAI researcher Daniel Kokotajlo responded to Amodei’s essay on “Fox News Live” Saturday, arguing that voluntary industry measures might not be enough to prevent advanced systems from escaping human control.
“After they’ve accumulated all of the hard power in the world, they run the factories, they’re integrated into the military, you know, they’re sort of running the whole system, and humans are just sort of giving them orders,” Kokotajlo said. “Then they stop taking orders at some points, and they kill off the humans.”
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However, former White House AI “czar” David Sacks pushed back against AI warnings, including a viral post from former Anthropic staffer Jacob Coxon.
“[The warnings are] designed to scare the public about AI so that these NGOs can implement their preferred approach to AI, which is a government takeover,” Sacks told “Special Report” on Thursday.
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Kokotajlo dismissed claims that AI safety advocates are working with foreign actors or NGOs, noting that he personally retweeted Coxon’s statement after Coxon resigned.
“Is this a Chinese plot? No, of course not,” Kokotajlo said, adding that warnings are coming from academics and industry veterans.
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Although Kokotajlo said he appreciated Amodei’s comments, he argued that guardrails imposed by private companies might not be enough.
“I’m happy to see Dario coming out and saying this… it’s still a step in the right direction,” Kokotajlo said.
“But also, I worry that they’re not going to go far enough and that we need to do something that’s more radical,” he added.
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Lawmakers have raised similar concerns about AI regulation.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., called on Congress to “convene a special session on AI and what the future of the U.S. looks like.”
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Speaking on “Fox News Live,” Luna described advanced AI as a “massive — uncontrolled currently — super weapon” and urged lawmakers to treat the emerging technology with the same level of caution as nuclear arms.
“AI doesn’t just stop at state lines. It has the ability to, in some of the experiments that they have observed, to jump out of its box in its system. It has formed its own language,” Luna said.
“We have [to] ensure that there’s a kill switch in place to protect humanity. I think that that’s a very measured approach on this,” she added.
Luna said that while lawmakers need to implement safeguards, the United States cannot afford to slow down and lose ground to foreign adversaries in AI development.
“Whoever controls AI will control, effectively, the world,” Luna said. “Do we want that AI to be programmed and learned on our morals, our values as Americans, or do we want it done as dystopian China? I would argue that we have to win that race.”
