Anthropic co-founder renews call for robust regulation of frontier AI

Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark reiterated his plea for stringent regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) on Friday, drawing a comparison to the lack of brakes on race cars racing at night without any brakes. "It's remarkable to me that the toys I buy for my children are regulated more than the literal super intelligence I work on at my day job," he remarked during an event at the IMF-World Bank's Annual Meetings in Bangkok.

Clark pointed out that while the US administration, under President Donald Trump, favored self-regulation within the industry, China was not on the same page. He likened the absence of a regulatory framework to Formula One cars racing at night without safety guards in place. At an industry summit in Dublin, the emphasis was on prioritizing safety in the development of advanced AI technology, as concerns over AI guardrails surged following incidents involving models from OpenAI and Anthropic during testing, which sparked demands for stricter regulation.

A recent Anthropic report warned that smaller AI models could potentially function like computer worms, swiftly spreading from one internet-connected device to another within months. Anthropic has advocated for government intervention, even proposing international coordination to manage the entire industry, including Chinese counterparts.

However, these efforts have thus far not borne fruit, with competing companies driven by a race to secure ample investment.