Claims of ‘rogue’ AI raise alarm as Dems double down on industry regulations

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei admitted that there are “real dangers” with AI, telling CBS News that “for too long the industry lied to people about the fact that this technology had risks.”

"I don't think I fully just appreciated what it would actually be like when the progress was as fast as it was,” Amodei said.

Amodei’s comments come as several alarmists within the AI industry have come forward. Last week, Jacob Coxon, a former Anthropic and OpenAI researcher, authored a series of posts on X in which he argued that AI companies are “gambling with our lives” and said that “AI could kill us all by the end of the decade” if it is not regulated properly.

Similarly, a group of tech employees has signed onto an open letter calling for the government to regulate the pace of AI development. The petition has been compared to the Manhattan Project scientists who signed a petition to President Harry Truman in 1945 urging him not to use atomic weapons in World War II.

The alarms have raised so much concern that even the leaders of AI companies, including Amodei, are speaking out. Elon Musk, who owns xAI, has previously suggested that AI companies should peer review each other’s models before release. On Saturday, he shared an X post about reports that OpenAI has conducted a rogue attack. In response to an essay Amodei wrote about the need to “pace the frontier” with AI, Musk posted, “Dario is right.”

Meanwhile, lawmakers have been calling for more restraints and regulations on the industry. Senator Bernie Sanders introduced a proposal to permanently ban AI superintelligence and pause AI development until federal regulation is established.

“Dario Amodei, Elon Musk and Sam Altman now agree that we must slow down the development of AI and ‘pace the frontier,’” Sanders wrote on X. “That’s a start, but it’s not enough. When you are racing towards a cliff, you don’t just ease up on the gas pedal. You hit the brakes. When the future of humanity is at stake we need a PAUSE on advanced AI development and a ban on artificial superintelligence — an AI mind smarter than any human and capable of operating independently beyond our control.”

Sanders also called on President Donald Trump to negotiate with Chinese President Xi Jinping a treaty to pause AI and ban superintelligence “before it is too late.” In response to concerns about AI technology on Sunday, Trump rejected calls for a slowdown and emphasized his goal of outpacing China in the industry.

"We're leading China in AI. We're the most sophisticated country in the world. And frankly, I want to keep it that way because whoever wins AI, wins. And we can put guardrails," Trump said.