Federal legislation co-sponsored this month by left-wing Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, known as the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act, would impose a temporary pause in advanced AI development.
“There is a good chance that human beings will lose control over AI,” Sanders told the BBC’s Newsnight programme on Thursday. “And what happens then, nobody knows. But could it be catastrophic? Yes, it could.”
“When scientists tell you there is a chance that it could have a cataclysmic impact on humanity, you’ve got be a moron not to say, slow it down,” he added.
If an industry-wide government crackdown comes, however, it is likely to be led by legislators and not the Trump administration which largely supports a policy of unfettered AI development. It has framed this as necessary to ensure the US does not cede dominance to China.
Speaking to reporters this week, President Donald Trump was asked if he had any concerns about AI leading to human extinction. “No, I don’t have any,” he said. “I have concerns that if we don’t win AI, we’re going to be put in a very bad position. We are leading China right now.”
But the president’s relationship with Anthropic has been turbulent. After the company refused to allow the US military to use its AI models, the White House described it as “a radical left, woke company” and designated it a supply chain risk, a move that a federal judge has ruled was illegal.
David Sacks, Trump’s AI czar in the early days of his administration, has also levelled repeated attacks at Anthropic.
OpenAI has not endured the same level of scrutiny from the White House. When releasing a new model called Astra last week, OpenAI President Greg Brockman described his firm’s relationship with the Trump administration as “a very good partnership”.
The company did not respond to a BBC inquiry seeking comment.
At the conference in San Francisco this week, the pursuit of fortunes seemed to mostly trump any mounting existential concerns or fears over potential government restrictions on AI.
OpenAI, which was most recently valued at $852bn, has previously announced plans to allow people to buy shares in its firm by listing on the stock market.
However, its chief executive Sam Altman said on Friday this would not happen this year, calling it an “ill-advised moment” to do so “given everything happening with safety” in an interview with Fortune magazine.
He suggested 2027 would be more likely.
Meanwhile, one investor said he was looking forward to Anthropic’s forthcoming S-1, a document a company must file with securities regulators in order to sell shares.
His main question about the company was simple: is the firm profitable?
When asked on Thursday if he fears the world may be coming to an end, Sid Sheth – chief executive of the chip company d-Matrix which inked a deal with Nvidia at the conference that day – did not mince his words.
“No,” he said.
