{
  "id": 2151577,
  "title": "Anthropic and OpenAI Split as Massachusetts Pushes Nation’s Toughest AI Safety Rules",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/20/anthropic-and-openai-split-as-massachusetts-pushes-nations-toughest",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-08-20T14:21:52.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "PYMNTS",
    "slug": "pymnts",
    "url": "https://www.pymnts.com/news/artificial-intelligence/2026/anthropic-and-openai-split-as-massachusetts-pushes-nations-toughest-ai-safety-rules/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Anthropic and OpenAI have differing opinions on a Massachusetts proposal that would establish a process for evaluating the safety of artificial intelligence models, according to Bloomberg. The proposal, part of a larger economic development bill, has been passed by the Massachusetts Senate but must still be approved by the House and the governor. The report described the provisions as \"the nation's most stringent state-level safeguards\" for AI, surpassing those adopted by California, New York, and Illinois.\n\nUnlike the Illinois law, which mandates a yearly third-party audit, the Massachusetts bill would allow outside organizations to assess a model's potential dangers every 120 days, based on their own guidelines. These findings would be made public, but the state could not halt AI development based on them. Cesar Fernandez, Anthropic's head of U.S. state and local government relations, stated that the more rigorous third-party evaluations are necessary as \"we ultimately don't think the industry should grade its own homework.\"\n\nHowever, OpenAI's head of U.S. state policy and partnerships, Donnie Fowler, disagreed, suggesting that states should emulate Illinois's law since inconsistency \"doesn't mean safer. It just means confusion.\" The report noted that Senate and House negotiators are refining the bill's details, including the AI provisions, and it is likely to pass before the November election due to its inclusion of funding for other projects.\n\nAnthropic's contributions to AI pro-regulation group Public First Action, which have reached $40 million after a $20 million donation, prompted the company to state in a press release that while they supported laws in several states requiring greater transparency for AI developers, \"transparency alone is insufficient.\" As of August 2025, 260 AI-related bills were introduced and 22 were passed into laws across the country in the first six months of the year.",
  "summary": "Anthropic and OpenAI are divided on their views of a Massachusetts proposal that would establish a process in the state for evaluating the safety of artificial intelligence models, Bloomberg reported Thursday (Aug. 20). The proposal is included in a larger economic development bill that was passed by the Massachusetts Senate last month but still requires […] The post Anthropic and OpenAI Split as…",
  "key_points": [
    "Massachusetts proposes nation's toughest AI safety rules.",
    "Anthropic supports more rigorous third-party evaluations.",
    "OpenAI prefers Illinois' law, arguing inconsistency means confusion."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}