The US president has dismissed posts by the CEOs of OpenAI and Anthropic calling for an artificial intelligence (AI) slowdown as hoaxes, while Meta’s boss continues to push the line that AI is the future of humanity. However, in light of greater public scrutiny over AI safety, IT leaders may be asked if their AI strategy is likely to change following these latest remarks.
Over the weekend, following the latest update to the Claude Mythos security breach, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for the development of frontier AI models to be paced. “Like many technologies before it, AI brings risks, and because it is such a powerful technology, these risks are serious,” he said.
“Over the last few months, I have become convinced that fully addressing the risks requires even more prudence – not just investing in risk prevention, but pacing the rate of capabilities advancement so that risk prevention has time to keep up. 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 gain,” he added.
Amodei noted that AI has been advancing drastically faster, driven primarily by its ability to build the next generation of AI itself.
On Tuesday, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman tweeted on X: “The world deserves confidence that American companies developing increasingly capable AI will act responsibly, especially as the trajectory of progress has steepened. Every frontier lab must deliver on this, and there is no reason any of us should come to work if we cannot.”
Consistent rules to manage frontier risk so that we can maximise the benefits are a good idea Sam Altman, OpenAI
He claimed that OpenAI was excited to have independent audits of its frontier models. “We welcome a federal framework that sets consistent safety requirements for frontier AI. But we do not believe we need to wait for an antitrust exemption or legislation to begin the work of providing this confidence. Consistent rules to manage frontier risk so that we can maximise the benefits are a good idea,” said Altman.
These remarks follow on from various studies exploring AI’s risk to humanity. An MIT FutureTech report based on a Delphi Study of 272 international experts warned of existential risks ranging from AI generating misinformation that undermines society, environmental impact and job losses, to cyber attacks and weapons that use AI brains. The experts judged there to be a more than 10% chance of catastrophic outcomes over the next five years.
One area that is often overlooked is what the experts in the Delphi Study categorise as the “power centralisation risk”. This is where the same entities developing AI are often best positioned to capture its benefits, creating self-reinforcing dynamics that are difficult to reverse through technical interventions alone.
In August, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates warned of the risks of AI, looking specifically at the wealth divide. “AI will either be the greatest equaliser ever invented, or the worst source of injustice,” he said. “The challenge is monumental. How will we use this technology to make the world a fairer place and keep it from widening the divide between rich and poor? How will we protect the people who are most vulnerable to the harms it causes?”
A shift in attitude
Arun Chandrasekaran, distinguished vice-president analyst at Gartner, described the call from AI chiefs to address the safety of frontier AI models as requiring a shift in enterprise thinking from agility to AI agility with safety.
“CIOs should prioritise proven use cases while strengthening AI governance, evaluation, security, observability and human oversight. CIOs and CISOs need to define their own end-to-end AI safety guardrails that are use case-specific,” he said, adding that these should strongly complement the guardrails provided by AI technology providers.
And last week – before the Amodei and Altman posts – Boston Consulting Group stated that the desire to move fast on AI without putting appropriate risk management in place can result in a system lapse or use cases being deployed in areas with strong regulatory requirements that organisations are unprepared for.
“That’s a serious business liability and could ultimately lead to an erosion of customer trust,” Steve Mills, managing director and partner at BCG, warned. He described AI governance as “a huge business unlock, not just a bottleneck” because it enables organisations to focus resources on the use cases that can deliver the most value as well as manage the risk.
CIOs and CISOs need to define their own end-to-end AI safety guardrails that are use case-specific Arun Chandrasekaran, Gartner
Given that AI governance can be used as a criterion for choosing the best projects to take forward, Gartner’s Chandrasekaran urged CIOs to continue speaking to their business chiefs about funding AI initiatives with measurable business value. “Build optionality into AI strategies through modular architectures, multiple model providers, strong evaluation and the ability to rapidly change models as capabilities and risks evolve,” he said.
One factor CIOs will need to consider if guardrails slow down the pace of frontier model development is that the financial markets are betting that AI growth will continue to accelerate. If this sentiment changes, some AI companies may find their funding diminish.
Daniel Turgel, partner and co-head of White & Case’s global technology industry group, said: “If spending expectations soften, the implications could be significant, extending beyond AI developers to chipmakers, energy providers and infrastructure businesses. Greater investor selectivity could also accelerate consolidation, as businesses with stronger balance sheets acquire technology from less well-capitalised competitors.”
In spite of rival companies calling for a slowdown in the development of frontier AI models, Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has so far remained silent, and his company remains committed to pushing forward AI developments.
AI, according to Zuckerberg, represents the future of humanity. He has promised “superintelligence” on Meta’s social media platform. “American communities will have greater prosperity and security if America and its allies lead in AI compared to geopolitical rivals,” he said.
This viewpoint is aligned with that of the current US administration. US president Donald Trump has previously stated: “The USA is the leader in AI and our administration plans to keep it that way.”
Responding to the warnings of Altman and Amodei, Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social: “Concerning AI, 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? AI taking over the world, destroying humanity, and all other things bad, is a hoax.”
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