AI industry leaders call for caution at UN as Anthropic’s Amodei pledges to slow development

Leaders of some of the world’s largest artificial intelligence companies urged caution during appearances at the United Nations on Wednesday, warning that increasingly autonomous AI systems could outpace human oversight.

Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei pledged to slow the pace of his company’s development in order to ensure new systems are safe, a notable commitment from the head of one of the leading AI labs. OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman also spoke, calling for “extreme care” as the industry continues to advance its technology.

The remarks reflect growing concern within the AI industry itself about the pace of development relative to the tools available to monitor and control increasingly capable systems. Such warnings from company leaders are notable given their firms’ own roles in driving that development forward.

A recurring theme

Calls for caution from AI executives have become a recurring feature of high-profile gatherings, including at the United Nations, where policymakers are increasingly seeking input from industry on how to approach regulation and oversight.

It remains to be seen what concrete steps, if any, will follow from the pledges made Wednesday, as governments continue to weigh their own approaches to AI governance.