Mint Explainer: Why are AI pioneers suddenly calling to slow down the race?

Summary

As Dario Amodei, Sam Altman and Elon Musk warn of AI risks, sceptics question whether calls to slow innovation stem from genuine safety fears or an effort to lock in US dominance.

On 12 September, Anthropic cofounder Dario Amodei published an essay urging a slower pace for cutting-edge AI innovations. In a rare display of consensus, OpenAI cofounder Sam Altman and xAI founder Elon Musk—who typically disagree on most things—echoed Amodei’s concerns about the risks of AI development.

The warnings come at a time when both Anthropic and OpenAI are reportedly targeting trillion-dollar public listings. Mint decodes why the pioneers of AI innovation are suddenly calling for caution.

Are these warnings sincere?

The widely shared views of Amodei and Coxon have been echoed by OpenAI’s Altman and xAI’s Musk, who are usually vocal adversaries. AI researchers in China have similarly raised concerns about the speed of AI advancement.

However, sceptics are now questioning the underlying motives behind these warnings. Clement Delangue, head of AI platform Hugging Face (which Nvidia acquired on 3 September for $12.9 billion), stressed the need for broader public participation in AI development. Meanwhile, Rahm Emanuel, former chief of staff to Barack Obama, questioned whether large corporations calling for government intervention might simply be trying to stifle industry competition.

Is there a precedent for this?

Not really. While governments have historically regulated tech industries by targeting monopolistic practices, such as the May 1998 antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft over its operating system and internet dominance, regulators intervened only after the sector had already matured.