Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei criticized his own industry for having misled the public about the dangers of artificial intelligence for too long, saying the technology carries real risks. The remarks came a day after the heads of Anthropic, OpenAI and xAI collectively agreed that the pace of AI development needs to be moderated. Amodei made the comments in an interview with CBS's "Sunday Morning," Forbes reported on the 13th.
In the conversation with host Jo Ling Kent, Amodei said AI technology is advancing at an exponential pace and that the industry had not fully grasped what would actually happen when progress moved this fast. He added that he would not lie about it, because real risks exist.
He argued that AI companies should slow the pace of development and that new models should be verified by third-party evaluators. Amodei compared such evaluators to food inspectors.
On the regulatory legislation now under discussion, he favored introducing some braking mechanisms rather than an outright ban. He did not support a complete prohibition on artificial superintelligence proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Greg Casar. By contrast, he said a proposal for an AI kill switch put forward by Reps. Ted Lieu and Nathaniel Moran "could be a good idea." An AI kill switch refers to a mandatory emergency stop mechanism that can forcibly halt an AI system's functions if it escapes human control or takes dangerous actions.
Asked whether he would be willing to hand the technology over to governments, he said it would be possible with the right combination of governments. He added that he worries a single government could abuse the technology just as easily as a single company. While saying he could not be certain about handing over the technology itself, he said he supports governments having "some form of oversight, some form of joint governance."
Amodei's comments came as the U.S. Congress debates how to regulate AI. House Speaker Mike Johnson said on NBC's "Meet the Press" the same day that AI regulation is a very important issue but not one that can be rushed. Johnson said some guardrails and safety measures are needed, while stressing that the United States must not lose its edge in global competition with China.
Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg pushed back. He said he was shocked by Johnson's call not to rush regulation, asking whether anyone knows what moves fast — AI does. He added that Congress standing by while the White House takes no substantive action is very dangerous for Americans and the world.
