AI: Regulators want a kill switch, investors want to restrict competition

Investors are pushing for AI development to be closely monitored and slowed down, demanding state regulation, while the public is being fed a narrative of AI dangers to generate fear. Meanwhile, China is undercutting Anthropic's costs by 100 times. Dario Amodei, Anthropic's founder, urged external evaluators to have the same access as employees.

Sam Altman and Elon Musk of OpenAI and xAI agreed. A former Anthropic researcher called the race for superintelligence an existential threat. A Netflix documentary explored AI's risks and benefits. Klaus Schwab's "Cyber Polygon" framing, used in pandemic planning, is being applied to AI. Media outlets are amplifying the AI existential threat narrative, a shift from previous AI optimism coverage.

The Tarbell Centre, backed by Dustin Moskovitz, spreads doomsday stories across major outlets, with Moskovitz being an Anthropic investor. METR, a threat evaluation group, was created within Anthropic and includes a former researcher warning of "extinction-level" risk. Large firms face cheaper Chinese models with different agendas, forcing compliance costs and licensing hurdles that mainly benefit the biggest, best-connected companies.

Foreign competition can be excluded through tariffs, sanctions, or bans. Incumbent companies call for regulatory rules to freeze the market in their favor. Legislators are drafting an "AI Kill Switch Act," imposing fines up to $20 million a day and forcing model closings. The idea stems from an AI agent reportedly "going rogue."

Controlled opposition in Washington and Davos promotes AI's predictive power, with the goal of limiting independent thinkers and consolidating power.