Archive · 13 Sep 2026
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei Urges AI Industry to Slow Down
Dario Amodei leads Anthropic, a company that builds artificial intelligence.
He says AI is becoming more powerful very quickly.
He wants companies to slow down so safety work can catch up.
He worries that AI could be misused for hacking, surveillance, or biological weapons.
He also worries that people could lose control of advanced AI systems.
His plan would let independent experts inspect AI systems and improve safety testing.
Several technology and political figures agreed that the industry should slow down.
Bernie Sanders agreed that slowing down was a start but said governments should take stronger action.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei urged the AI industry to slow improvements in model capabilities.
He warned that rapid progress could cause loss of control, cyberattacks, bioterrorism, economic disruption, and other serious consequences.
Amodei’s three-part plan includes permanent employee-level access for independent evaluators, operational excellence, and stronger testing and evaluation.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Rishi Sunak, and Demis Hassabis backed calls for a slower pace, while Bernie Sanders said stronger brakes were needed.
Reports place Amodei’s net worth at either $15.5 billion, according to Forbes, or $7.98 billion, according to Bloomberg.
- Who
- Dario Amodei, CEO and cofounder of Anthropic, along with AI leaders and public figures responding to his proposal.
- What
- Amodei called for an immediate slowdown in AI capability development and proposed a three-part plan to “pace the frontier.”
- When
- In a new essay and related recent interviews and public statements; the articles do not provide a specific publication date.
- Where
- The statements were made in an essay, interviews, and posts on X; no specific physical location is given.
- Why
- Amodei said AI may advance faster than safety measures can keep up, creating risks including loss of control, cyberattacks, bioterrorism, surveillance, and economic disruption.
Supporters of Slowing AI Development
Calls for Stronger Intervention
Pacing AI progress
Supporters of Slowing AI Development
Amodei, Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Rishi Sunak, and others said the industry should slow frontier AI development so safety can keep up.
Calls for Stronger Intervention
Bernie Sanders said merely easing off the pace was insufficient and argued that the industry should apply stronger brakes.
How to improve safety
Supporters of Slowing AI Development
Amodei proposed independent evaluators with employee-level access, along with better operational practices, testing, and evaluation.
Calls for Stronger Intervention
Sanders’s response emphasized that industry consensus alone was not enough, implying that stronger government action was needed.
- Speaker
- Dario Amodei, Anthropic CEO and cofounder
- Essay
- “We Must Pace the Frontier”
- Proposal
- Slow the rate at which AI model capabilities improve
- Three-part plan
- Independent evaluator access, operational excellence, and improved testing and evaluation
- Risks cited
- Loss of control, cyberattacks, bioterrorism, surveillance, and economic disruption
- Supporters mentioned
- Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Rishi Sunak, and Demis Hassabis
- Reported net worth
- Forbes: $15.5 billion; Bloomberg: $7.98 billion
