Alex Gibney Says He Got “Nothing Back” From Elon Musk When Reaching Out After Doc Legal Threat
Alex Gibney Says He Got “Nothing Back” From Elon Musk When Reaching Out After Doc Legal Threat. After apocalyptic warnings about the threats posed by AI, leaders like Sam Altman and Elon Musk backed Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s calls to ‘slow the pace’Facing a public uproar over Anthropic researchers’ repeated warnings that artificial intelligence could kill all of humanity by 2030, the AI company’s CEO, Dario Amodei, issued a proposal at the weekend to slow down the technology’s advancement to ensure public safety.
What happened
Photograph: Dado Ruvić/ReutersAnalysis‘Too little, too late’: critics perplexed and suspicious of AI leaders’ call for a slowdownRobert Booth UK technology editorFrom the Trump administration to AI experts, plans by the Anthropic boss to boost safety have spawned a largely negative response OpenAI boss and Elon Musk back slowdown on ‘reckless’ AI development Editorial: controlling AI – humanity cannot outsource its survival The safety debate that ignited when whistleblowers last week warned that the most advanced AI poses an existential threat to humanity should come with a health warning: side effects include whiplash.
The essay received rare endorsement from both OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and Elon Musk, who owns chatbot Grok, following a week of intense debate about the technology’s threats to human safety. While these measures will have “significant costs,” he wrote on X: “Pacing will be well worth this cost; no amount of American competitive pressure should justify recklessness. ”CommentsBack to topJoin the discussionCommentsBack to topYou Might Also LikeIn your inbox: WIRED's most ambitious, future-defining storiesAI slop backlash is actually having an impactBig Story: The cop who took on FlockThe rise of the 1am job interviewWatch: I stole a car by hacking this hidden deviceTopicsDonald Trumpagentic AIElon MuskSam AltmanDario Amodeiartificial intelligenceAnthropicOpenAIChinaTop eBay Coupons in September 2026Save up to 60% on a selection of items at eBay, including electronics, home products, card games, car parts and more.
In signs that a coordinated slowdown might not be just talk, some of Amodei’s precautionary ideas quickly attracted backing from his rivals – Sam Altman at OpenAI and Elon Musk at SpaceX. Photograph: Pete Millson‘We’re not going to back down’: tiny Dorset B&B stands up to Airbnb’s legal bid to ‘monopolise’ letters ‘bnb’Three little letters – bnb-side’s name is a play on the local b-side arts festival, but Silicon Valley colossus sees threat to global brandIn one corner is bnb-side, a six-room bed and breakfast on the Isle of Portland – a tiny wedge of limestone tied by a narrow ribbon of shingle to the Dorset coast – that was created to help secure the future of the rock’s much-loved arts festival, b-side.
But Gibney has "great concern" that HBO Max may not be able to bring 'Musk' to audiences, as planned, before Warner Bros. Discovery is acquired by the tech barons behind Paramount. The OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google DeepMind chief Demis Hassabis and xAI owner Elon Musk posted support for Amodei’s proposal for slowing AI development, titled “We Must Pace the Frontier,” with Altman stating he would match Amodei’s commitment to embedding outside evaluators within his company to verify safety practices.
The wider picture
View image in fullscreenElon Musk, CEO of Anthropic Dario Amodei, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman have said AI firms should slow down the development of the powerful technology. Explore more on these topicsAI (artificial intelligence)ComputingAnthropicOpenAISam AltmanElon MuskfeaturesShareReuse this contentMost viewedMost viewed Stop pretending antitrust law has to be suspended so you can form a cartel … Most of all, stop pretending the motivation to slow down is purely altruistic. ”Amodei had requested the government enable competing AI companies to work together on standards without breaching antitrust law, either by participating in discussions or issuing a waiver for the companies involved.
Concerns about the US ceding its lead in the technology to China have caused the US government to mostly push back against the notion of slowing the pace of its development. "The US largely views China’s AI ecosystem as an economic and national security threat and has previously been caught short by the country’s advances in the technology. “If Congress just races in and does some sort of emergency session to try to regulate AI, we will lose the race to China, and that is a threat to every single American,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told CNN on Sunday.
The AI industry, especially the factions within it that focus on whether the technology is aligned with humanity’s interests, has also long warned about its existential threats. While AI companies have made grandiose claims about the threats and benefits from their technology, they have also historically provided little transparency or oversight into how their models operate and spent millions in lobbying efforts to shape favorable legislation.
What has been reported
Alex Bores, a proponent of AI regulation whose failed bid for Congress spurred $24m in spending both for and against his campaign from AI-linked political action committees, warned that the AI lobby often seeks to undermine legislation while claiming to support regulation. “If they were to pull away from us on AI, then nothing else would matter. ”People close to Trump also wonder why Amodei and the rest of the AI leaders do not get on with pacing AI development themselves.
But Russell said this was “completely backwards”. View image in fullscreenbnb-side, a six-room B&B on the Isle of Portland, has received legal letters from booking titan Airbnb. Photograph: Pete Millsonb-side says the “bnb” in bnb-side means what it has always meant: bed and breakfast. 5 miles wide, threatens the global brand of the $100bn heavyweight. In May, it sent the first of three legal letters to the tiny social enterprise to demand it cease its attempt to register the B&B using the name it had used since it opened its doors.
“We’d have to painstakingly build our reputation and brand back up from scratch all over again. ”Raina Summerson, chair of b-side, is fuming and incredulous.
What happens next
View image in fullscreen‘It’s pretty bitter,’ said Cat Wightman, pictured at bnb-side, describing the legal battle with Airbnb, a company that has ‘conquered’ Portland. “It’s terrifying but we’re not going to back down,” said Holly-Nambi. “Some companies may welcome getting a reputation for aggressive enforcement but that can backfire when the target is a community organisation, like this one. ”Airbnb has been approached for comment. Skip to main contentSave this storySave this storyAs calls for artificial intelligence regulation intensify, US President Donald Trump’s team have made it clear that if lab leaders want to implement an industry-wide slowdown, they’re going to have to do it themselves.
Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei called on the US government to regulate AI companies within a wider effort to slow the pace of the technology’s development in an essay published Saturday. Microsoft chief executive officer Satya Nadella also called for pacing development. Calls for AI slowdown and regulation have intensified after a number of researchers voiced major concerns in the last week about the speed of the technology’s advance.
The report has been compiled by The Daily Waves using information reported across wired.com, theguardian.com. Details are presented according to the information available at the time of publication and may change as authorities, organisers or other relevant parties provide updates.