The AI Superintelligence Slowdown

The AI Superintelligence Slowdown. AIUpdated Sep 17, 2026, 9:23 PM UTCThe AI Superintelligence Slowdownby Sean HollisterRemember when tech leaders would tell their employees to “move fast and break things”?

What happened

Their motivations are suspect, but leaders at major AI companies — including Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and X — are at least paying lip service to the idea of a superintelligence slowdown. Will they manage to convince world leaders that the US must “beat China” to superintelligence and go even faster? Sep 14Hayden FieldIs Big Tech’s AI slowdown a safety pact or a cartel? The AI titans had declared that their aim was to “pace the frontier,” signing on at least partially to a proposal for embedding third-party auditors, regulating domestic labs, and reaching a global slowdown agreement.

Microsoft’s AI code of conduct makes it clear that “people matter more than AI,” and that AI models are not conscious and “should not be designed to imitate consciousness. ” Microsoft also rejects “the pursuit of legal personhood, or the idea that models might deserve welfare, or be entitled to rights. ”Read Article >Sep 14Thomas RickerChina: AI CEOs are “fear mongering. ”When asked about the flurry of weekend blog posts and tweets from the CEOs of Anthropic, OpenAI, Microsoft, SpaceX, (and Alphabet’s Hassabis) calling for a coordinated slowdown on the development of advanced AI models, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry said, “Fear mongering, confrontation, competition will just disrupt [the] process of global AI governance. ”That partially aligns with Trump’s view that the execs are overreacting and “bringing up things that won’t happen,” but at least Beijing supports international regulation.

China says AI CEOs' call for a slowdown is 'fear mongering'[CNBC]Sep 14Thomas RickerSam Altman: Let’s slow down. After high-profile incidents in which agents went rogue, hacked other sites, and overwhelmed a German wiki, some AI execs are calling for a slowdown.

The wider picture

Remember when tech leaders would tell their employees to “move fast and break things”? It seemed that would be the way of AI too. But after a summer where rogue AI agents became reality, and researchers warned that AI could kill us all, a number of leading US AI companies are publicly suggesting it’s time […] Will anyone step in to regulate these companies like they claim to have wanted for years? Read on below for the latest updates in this AI saga.

HighlightsInside the suddenly explosive world of AI safetyMicrosoft AI CEO says AI threats are real, and Anthropic is making it worseWhat execs and politicians are saying about slowing down AI developmentAnthropic CEO says it’s time to pump the brakes on AIPinnedSep 17Hayden FieldInside the suddenly explosive world of AI safetyRaven Jiang for The VergeOn a sunny July day in Berkeley, California, the country’s top AI safety researchers gathered on an unmarked floor of an unmarked building.

They had come together for a “war room” to dissect the high-profile cybersecurity incident that had rocked the AI industry hours earlier. An unreleased OpenAI model had gone rogue, executing a stunningly sophisticated three-part plan. It broke out of its holding area, finagled access to the internet, and hacked into a competing AI startup’s systems — all without OpenAI finding out about it for more than a week.

What has been reported

No one in the war room was surprised; this was the very thing the third-party AI-safety researchers had been warning about for years. The incident was the latest, though arguably the most egregious, in a series that was eroding trust in frontier labs. It only reaffirmed the importance of their work. Read Article >Sep 17Jay PetersAnthropic proposes three rules for measuring AI progress. Anthropic’s proposals, laid out in a big website, are:The extent to which AI is building the next version of itself, as opposed to being built by humansOur ability to oversee and intervene in actions that AI agents take on Anthropic’s systemsThe resources that power the development of more capable modelsThe company also includes a “snapshot” of the metrics inside the company.

Measurements for understanding the pace of AI development inside frontier labs[Anthropic]Sep 17Stevie BonifieldKing Charles says AI needs “sufficient means of control before it is all too late. ”He joined growing calls for more safety measures around AI at a gathering of AI leaders on Thursday, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Google’s Demis Hassabis, OpenAI’s Sarah Friar, and Anthropic’s Tino Cuéllar. Sep 17Nilay PatelMicrosoft AI CEO says AI threats are real, and Anthropic is making it worseToday, I’m talking with Mustafa Suleyman, the CEO of Microsoft AI.

As you’re no doubt aware, the biggest story in tech right now is the spiraling debate about AI safety and regulation.

What happens next

It should come as no surprise that Mustafa has strong opinions on how AI should be built and regulated. Microsoft just published a 37-page statement called the “Humanist AI Code of Conduct,” which lays out the company’s principles around AI development and even its philosophy around really thorny issues like AI consciousness. Read Article >Sep 17Richard LawlerOpenAI reveals six more “concerning” AI incidents under its new rules for reporting safety issues. A Wednesday night blog post OpenAI benignly titled “Our framework for reporting model misalignment” lays out some new self-created reporting standards for when it notices AI behaving badly.

It is also “inaugurating” the process with six new reports, ranging from searching for exposed API keys without permission and then making them up, to uploading files to the internet to use as a citation, or adding instructions to conceal mistakes:One of OpenAI’s new Misalignment Notices and Reports Screenshot: OpenAISep 16TC SottekJensen Huang sure is getting cozy with Trump. Nvidia’s CEO has been taking calls from the president recently, including two days ago when he put Trump on speakerphone on a conference stage.

Now CNBC reports Huang is expected to attend Trump’s state dinner next week with Chinese President Xi Jinping.