OpenAI boss and Elon Musk back calls to put brakes on ‘reckless’ AI development

OpenAI boss and Elon Musk back calls to put brakes on ‘reckless’ AI development. Explore more on these topicsAI (artificial intelligence)Stock marketsAsia PacificComputingTechnology sectorDatacentresDonald TrumpnewsShareReuse this contentMore on this storyMore on this storyEurope must build own AI or risk getting cut off by US or China, says ECB’s LagardeOpenAI urges UK lawmakers to rein in technology amid growing safety fears OpenAI boss and Elon Musk back calls to put brakes on ‘reckless’ AI developmentUK lawmakers urge Burnham to back ban on superintelligent AI after chilling warningsThe Guardian view on controlling AI: humanity cannot outsource its survivalTech whistleblowers warn AI could wipe out humanity.

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.

Rare show of unity from rival developers after safety warnings from Anthropic boss and AI researchersAnalysis: critics perplexed and suspicious of call for a slowdownThe Guardian view: humanity cannot outsource its survivalSam Altman and Elon Musk have backed a call from the head of Anthropic, Dario Amodei, to “slow the pace” of AI development after he warned that an AI swarm could otherwise become capable of “taking over the entire internet” within a year. In a rare show of unity, the rival technology leaders threw their weight behind the appeal from the founder and chief executive of the artificial intelligence company Anthropic, which came after a series of warnings from AI researchers last week. Amodei also called for safety coordination with China. Continue reading. . .

The OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, the Google DeepMind chief, Demis Hassabis, and SpaceX boss, Elon Musk, all posted support for Amodei’s essay on slowing AI development, titled “We Must Pace the Frontier”. 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 intelligenceAnthropicOpenAIChinaThe Top New Features in Apple’s iOS 27 and iPadOS 27The latest iPhone update is chock-full of smart upgrades, with a big focus on improvements to Siri.

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. 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.

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. Photograph: VCG/Getty ImagesAI-linked stocks slide after tech bosses call for slowdown in ‘reckless’ developmentDonald Trump dismisses attempts to increase controls on artificial intelligence as ‘sick conspiracy’ AI-linked stocks tumbled on Monday after the bosses of Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceX called for a slowdown in AI “reckless” development, citing fears the technology could soon run out of control.

Skip to main contentSkip to navigationSkip to key eventsBusiness liveBusinessUK government moves to acquire Speciality Steel UK; AI stocks hit by calls for slowdown – as it happenedRolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news AI-linked stocks fall after tech bosses call for slowdown in ‘reckless’ development AI CEOs say they need to slow the pace of development. The bosses of two rival AI firms, Sam Altman of OpenAI and Elon Musk, have both said they agree with Amodei.

Explore more on these topicsAI (artificial intelligence)ComputingAnthropicOpenAISam AltmanElon MuskfeaturesShareReuse this contentMost viewedMost viewed 2% after AI slowdown call7h agoOdey loses appeal against financial services ban9h agoRAC: Fuel hits new Iran war high10h agoChina: AI warnings are 'fearmongering'10h agoUK gilt yields pushed to new highs by rising oil price11h agoEuropean tech stocks hit six-week low12h agoFull story: AI-linked stocks fall after tech bosses call for slowdown in ‘reckless’ development12h agoAirBaltic files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to cut debts13h agoUK gas prices highest in close to four years13h agoASML shares hit by AI slowdown call13h agoAI victims' share prices rise13h agoIG: Tech wobbles as AI enthusiasm wanes14h agoWill AI CEOs actually slow down?

That rather indicates the White House will not be backing a slowdown in AI development, despite calls for it in recent days from the major US AI companies. 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.

What has been reported

Altman and Elon Musk quickly backed the proposal in social media posts, an unusual show of agreement among three fierce rivals. It was all enough to make lawmakers in London and Washington demand brakes and bans on the most potentially dangerous types of AI development. He added: “We need an immediate, indefinite, international moratorium on frontier AI development. ”Explore more on these topicsAI (artificial intelligence)Technology sectorComputingAnthropicOpenAITrump administrationanalysisShareReuse this contentMost viewedMost viewed On Sunday, Trump once again rejected calls for slowing down AI development while citing competition from China and telling reporters “whoever wins AI, wins”.

Shares in SoftBank, a Japanese investor that is a big backer of OpenAI, slumped 13%, while the South Korean Kospi stock index, which relies heavily on chipmakers that supply AI companies, dropped by 3%. Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which owns the Grok AI assistant, are down 1. Donald Trump has hit out at calls for a slowdown in AI development, claiming that there is a “sick conspiracy” against artificial intelligence and data centres. 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.

What happens next

Elon Musk and Sam Altman signaled their support of Amodei’s proposal. Image source, ReutersImage caption, There was no alternative to developing AI, Anthropic boss Dario Amodei saidByPaulin Kola and Lily Jamali, North America technology correspondent, Reporting fromin San FranciscoPublished12 September 2026The head of AI company Anthropic has called for the pace of development of artificial intelligence models to slow down and to be closely monitored. Musk, meanwhile, who founded Grok producer xAI, said the Anthropic boss was "right".

In the run-up to the release of its most recent Astra model, OpenAI cited cyber-security concerns as it explained it had paused certain aspects of the model's development. It was only seven days ago that AI enthusiasts were cheerily toying with OpenAI’s newest model GPT-6 Astra which was marketed in part as a lifestyle tool to help people book tennis courts, run fashion companies and order takeaways. Another lurch came when Anthropic revealed it had found users dodging controls to use its existing models “in ways that could support biological weapons development” – think novel mosquito-borne or bird flu viruses.

And then this weekend, another sharp turn in the form of a three-point plan from the Anthropic boss, Dario Amodei, to “pace the frontier”.

The report has been compiled by The Daily Waves using information reported across 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.