‘Our industry sees the risks and is concerned’: European tech leaders join calls for AI slowdown

European technology leaders have joined calls for a slowdown in AI advancement, citing the technology's potential existential threat to humanity. Pip White, head of U.K., Ireland, Northern Europe, and Israel at Anthropic, suggested that slowing the pace of AI development is essential, but it must be regulated across governments with enforcement across countries.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have both advocated for external evaluators to access Anthropic's models, training, and processes to ensure safety. Other prominent figures, including OpenAI's Elon Musk and Google DeepMind's Demis Hassabis, have also supported Amodei's proposal for a slower AI development pace.

However, not all European politicians are on board with the calls for an AI slowdown. French Finance minister Roland Lescure expressed concerns about self-interest in asking others to slow down to maintain the leading companies' advantage. Germany's digital affairs ministry also stated that halting AI development is not a viable option for Europe.

Despite the push for a slowdown, Anthropic and OpenAI have recently released more affordable versions of their frontier models. AI experts argue that regulators should focus on preventing careless deployment and testing AI in independent organizations before deployment, similar to regulations in the pharmaceutical industry.