AI giants call for slowdown over ‘serious’ risks

Industry leaders are backing closer oversight of increasingly powerful artificial intelligence models OpenAI chief Sam Altman and xAI owner Elon Musk have backed calls to immediately slow the development of increasingly powerful AI models. Their statements came after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned that AI could outpace human control and cause catastrophic damage within months.Four days ago, researcher Jacob Coxon publicly resigned from Anthropic, accusing both the company and his previous employer, OpenAI, of racing towards self-improving super-intelligence without “acting responsibly.” He also claimed that the technology could “kill us all” by the end of the decade.In a 3,800-word essay published on his personal website on Saturday, Amodei, who co-founded Anthropic with his sister Daniela in 2021, outlined “serious” dangers, including loss of control over AI systems, their misuse for cyberattacks and bioterrorism, and major economic disruption. He said commercial competition could fuel a “race to the bottom” and exacerbate the threats.“We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models. Progress will still seem fast, and we must make wise use of the time we...