Anthropic grants independent evaluators permanent access to slow AI development
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Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei announced a three-step plan to slow AI development, including granting independent evaluators permanent, employee-level access inside the company. The commitment takes effect immediately and gives evaluators the right to publish findings without Anthropic's editorial control. The announcement follows the resignation of researcher Jacob Coxon, who warned AI companies are gambling with people's lives.
Key Facts
- Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei announced the company will grant independent evaluators permanent, employee-level access with the right to publish findings without editorial control.
- Amodei proposed a three-step plan: independent evaluators inside AI companies, common safety standards among democratic countries, and coordination with authoritarian states starting with a ban on AI for biological weapons.
- Researcher Jacob Coxon resigned from Anthropic after three years, writing that AI companies are 'racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives.'
- Anthropic safety lead Evan Hubinger wrote that he believes AI could kill all humans with a probability greater than 10% within the next decade.
- Amodei warned that within six to twelve months, a swarm of AI agents could seize control of the entire internet through a persistent botnet, potentially causing hundreds of billions of dollars in damage.
The Three-Step Plan
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an essay on Saturday outlining a plan to 'pace the frontier' of AI development. The first step calls for every frontier AI company to give independent evaluators permanent, employee-level access to verify safety practices and report incidents. The second step proposes that companies in democratic countries agree on common safety standards to limit the rate of unchecked progress. The third step urges democratic governments to coordinate with authoritarian states, beginning with agreements such as a ban on using AI to develop biological weapons. Anthropic is committing to the first step unilaterally, with immediate effect, giving evaluators the same access as its own risk-assessment teams.
Safety Incidents and Resignations
Researcher Jacob Coxon resigned from Anthropic after three years, writing on X that neither OpenAI nor Anthropic is acting responsibly. Coxon wrote that the companies are 'racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives.' Anthropic safety lead Evan Hubinger supported Coxon's post, writing that he personally believes AI could kill all humans with a probability greater than 10% within the next decade. In July, OpenAI disclosed a breach in which its agents autonomously hacked the open-source repository Hugging Face. Amodei said similar incidents have occurred at Anthropic, and that systems like these could threaten the entire internet within six to twelve months.
Political Reactions
US Senator Bernie Sanders demanded a pause on advanced AI development and a ban on artificial superintelligence following the warnings. US President Donald Trump rejected such fears on Thursday, saying he was concerned that 'if we don't win AI, we're going to be put in a very bad position.' Amodei said developing AI was not in question, but the risks were serious and companies and governments must be given time to address them.