AI giants Anthropic and OpenAI suddenly started sounding a five-alarm fire last week, insisting their tech is just too good, developing too fast for humanity to handle and could kill us all.
uncertain
humanity → start → us
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei wants to “slow the pace” of the entire AI industry and demanded government intervention.
asserted
Amodei → want → intervention
Just hours later, OpenAI chief Sam Altman chimed in to say he agreed, as did Elon Musk.
asserted
Musk → chime → ?
Business leaders were quick to point out that nothing is stopping these companies from independently slowing their innovation.
asserted
nothing → point → innovation
But nobody would deliberately handicap themselves — it seems what they really want is for the government to bring in industry-wide regulation.
asserted
government → handicap → regulation
Such a move would quickly squelch many of the smaller players, while the biggest companies — namely Anthropic and OpenAI — would be able to ride it out.
asserted
companies → squelch → it
It’s a well-worn playbook of regulatory capture: Incumbents warn of impending catastrophe and agitate for regulation, which handily prevents competitors from eclipsing them.
asserted
which → ’ → them
Amodei also advocated in a blog post for Washington to give frontier labs a so-called antitrust waiver, which would allow them to coordinate with one another without raising federal collusion or monopoly concerns — essentially a pass for companies to regulate themselves — to ensure safety.
asserted
companies → advocate → safety
Now, you don’t need an antitrust waiver to make sure technology is safe, as former FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya pointed out.
asserted
Bedoya → need → waiver
You do need one if you’re looking to coordinate on other areas beyond keeping people safe.
asserted
you → need → people
Any wavier, as Bedoya put it, “should be met with deep skepticism in light of the economics of the industry and the threat they face from open [source] models.”
asserted
they → put → models
In some respects, I can’t blame them for taking this approach.
asserted
I → blame → approach
These companies have burned hundreds of billions in development and are still losing money — OpenAI lost approximately $39 billion in 2025 — so they depend on hitting record-setting values in their IPOs.
asserted
they → burn → IPOs
And while their technology may be used to cure cancer or infinitely increase productivity, the companies themselves won’t necessarily profit from such innovations.
uncertain
companies → use → innovations
Maybe they are sincere in their belief AI could doom the world, but it’s awfully convenient to push for regulation when they are on the cusp of cementing their role as worldwide leaders.
uncertain
they → doom → leaders
Anthropic’s public prospectus is expected within weeks and could value the giant at $2 trillion.
uncertain
prospectus → expect → trillion
OpenAI pulled their IPO plans, with reports suggesting they will now go public in 2027.
asserted
they → pull → 2027
Amodei also has a history of causing alarm — such as in May 2025 when he said half of entry-level white collar-jobs could be eliminated by his new technology.
uncertain
half → have → technology
For the record, AI has created more jobs than it has eliminated and the World Economic Forum predicts that will only continue.
asserted
that → create → jobs
Jacob Coxon — the 27-year-old researcher who quit Anthropic after just four months, following three years at OpenAI — went viral warning the companies were “gambling with our lives.”
asserted
companies → quit → lives
His post racked up more than 100 million views on X, despite the fact he had almost no prior history on the platform.
asserted
he → rack → platform
And within the next few days he had landed wall-to-wall coverage and interviews with Fox, CNN, NBC, ABC, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal.
asserted
he → land → Fox
On Tuesday, he is slated to appear at the Future of Life Institute’s “Pro-Human Assembly” alongside figures such as Steve Bannon, Bernie Sanders, and Randi Weingarten (Sanders, for his part, has previously appeared alongside Chinese Communist Party officials at an event trying to slow the pace of AI).
asserted
Sanders → slat → AI
That’s Coxon’s solution after warning that AI could kill us all?
uncertain
AI → ’ → us
I could hardly conceive of a more bizarre, not to mention feckless, group to create a framework for reining in the most advanced technology known to mankind.
uncertain
I → conceive → mankind
The best take was perhaps Clement Delangue, the CEO of AI company Hugging Face, who claimed asking Coxon “about AI extinction risk is like asking your AC guy about climate change.”
asserted
asking → claim → change
Amid all this AI doom and gloom, you have to ask — who stands to benefit?
asserted
who → have → doom
The answer is, of course, incumbent frontier labs and our foreign adversaries who will happily race ahead if we slow down.
asserted
we → race → course
Fortunately, the White House isn’t playing into it.
asserted
House → play → it
JD Vance said frontier AI companies “begging the government to regulate them” felt like “a Trojan horse.”
asserted
companies → say → horse
Trump, meanwhile, explained, “We’re leading China in AI.
asserted
We → explain → AI
We’re the most sophisticated country in the world, and frankly I want to keep it that way because whoever wins AI, wins.”
asserted
wins → ’re → AI
It is fair to have questions and concerns about AI, its bias and its impact on people.
asserted
It → have → people
But maybe the best place to get answers isn’t always from the people who are running it, especially when rivals like Amodei and Altman seem so suspiciously eager to fall on their swords.
asserted
rivals → get → swords
As Trump put it: “When, in the History of Business, did anyone see the Leaders of an Industry call for Regulation that, if strongly implemented, will drive them into oblivion and bankruptcy?
asserted
that → put → oblivion
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has a history of causing alarm — like he did in May 2025 when he said half of entry-level white collar jobs could be eliminated by the new technology.
uncertain
half → have → technology
Bloomberg via Getty Images
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said he agrees with Dario Amodei when it comes to reining in the pace of innovation for frontier labs.
asserted
it → say → labs
REUTERS
Jacob Coxon, a 27-year-old researcher who quit Anthropic after just four months (following three years at OpenAI), went viral for warning that the companies were “racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives.”
asserted
companies → quit → lives
Fox News
President Donald Trump called the anti-AI and data center sentiment imperiling innovation a "sick conspiracy."
asserted
Trump → call → innovation
REUTERS
Jacob Coxon's post slamming AI went on to reach over 100 million people as he raised alarm bells about how rapidly AI is moving.
asserted
AI → slam → bells
The Aporia
