As concerns over AI safety intensify, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has called on the U.S. government to slow the pace of AI development and allow AI companies to jointly set safety standards without running afoul of antitrust law.
The proposal has drawn support from several prominent tech executives. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Tesla CEO Elon Musk backed the idea, while Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also called for tighter control over the speed of AI development.
White House remains wary of a government-led slowdown
The Trump administration has taken a cautious view of calls to slow the sector. David Sacks, co-chair of the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology, said AI companies that believe new models carry excessive risk can choose to slow their own work, but should not use that argument to ask the government to pause antitrust enforcement.
Trump stressed that the United States is currently ahead of China in AI. "Whoever wins AI wins everything," he said, adding that the U.S. should preserve that lead.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Congress will not lead an "emergency brake" on AI. In his view, if companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic truly believe further development is too dangerous, they can stop on their own rather than wait for a government order. He also said Congress should not rush into an emergency pause order.
OpenAI says it is willing to adopt voluntary safeguards
At the same time, OpenAI said it is willing to take voluntary measures. Those steps include allowing independent third-party evaluators to receive employee-level internal access so they can assess AI products and safety practices and report incidents.
Altman said that although slowing the pace of AI development would come with costs, "it is worth paying that price," and that competitive pressure facing the United States should not be used as a reason for reckless development.