Anthropic Boss Dario Amodei Calls for AI Slowdown

Anthropic's CEO, Dario Amodei, has urged AI companies to slow down the development of artificial intelligence technology. His call for a slowdown comes as there is growing concern over the risk of superintelligent computer software systems. In a blog post, Amodei expressed worry that a swarm of autonomous software systems, or AI agents, could potentially take control of the entire internet within six to 12 months, causing billions of dollars in damage.

He cautioned that progress in AI capabilities should still be swift, but must be used wisely, taking advantage of the time gained. Amodei's comments follow the departure of AI researcher Jacob Coxon, who left Anthropic to join OpenAI, expressing concern about the US companies' gamble on self-improving AI models. Anthropic's chief called for an industry-wide pause in AI development, but stated he would not wait for other firms to act.

Instead, he proposed allowing independent observers to assess the safety of Anthropic's models during the training phase. Tech moguls Sam Altman of OpenAI and Elon Musk, owner of xAI, both agreed with Amodei's assessment.