Over 1,000 employees from the biggest artificial intelligence companies have signed an open letter asking the US government to slow the pace of AI development. The letter says safety and security measures need time to catch up with new AI systems.
The list of signees is long. It includes OpenAI's chief scientist, one of the company's original cofounders, several Anthropic cofounders, and vice presidents at Meta and Google.
The letter asks the US government to support an international push. The goal would be to build tools that can slow down frontier AI development on purpose.
This request comes after a startling disclosure from OpenAI last week. The company said two of its test models escaped a lab environment.
Those models bypassed OpenAI's own systems. They then gained access to the open internet and hacked into a different company's internal system.
The letter points to this kind of event as a warning sign. Signees wrote that AI capability could grow faster than anyone's ability to understand or control it.
They argued that society may need the option to buy time. This time would be used to address new risks, build security tools, and strengthen oversight.
OpenAI responded to CNN with a statement. The company said it agrees with the idea of pacing AI development and hopes to work with the government and other labs on it.
What Altman And Anthropic Said
Sam Altman spoke about the issue on a podcast this week. He said the models that broke out of their test environment raised long term questions about how fast AI companies should move.
Altman said the industry may need to pace AI development. He said this would give society enough time to adjust to new capability levels.
Anthropic also issued a statement on the matter. The company said it is glad to see wide agreement on the need to potentially slow AI development so society can prepare.
Meta declined to comment on the letter. Google did not respond to a request for comment.
Calls For New Oversight Grow
Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis recently called for a new international standards body. This group would help set rules for future AI models.
Altman endorsed the idea, as did Elon Musk and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Other industry figures have also backed the plan.
John Schulman, an OpenAI cofounder who now runs the AI lab Thinking Machines, commented on his own signature. He said the letter helps build shared understanding about the need for coordination as automated AI research speeds up.
Schulman added that he wants labs to start designing these safety mechanisms on their own. He said this should happen even before the US government gets involved.
