Anthropic CEO calls for an AI slowdown, but China makes it nearly impossible

放缓人工智能发展速度的难题在于中国

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei argues frontier AI must slow down, warning that swarms of AI agents could gain the ability to “take over the entire internet” within 6–12 months. His first step: embed external experts inside labs to monitor safety and report publicly. Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and Demis Hassabis endorsed the idea; Altman said OpenAI will follow suit. The real obstacle, author Sebastian Mallaby writes, is China. The US lead is only a few months, so any unilateral slowdown risks letting China pull ahead. Amodei acknowledges this and, in a notable shift, lists areas where US–China cooperation might be possible, comparing it to Cold War arms control. The post does not spell out a concrete timeline, but notes Trump and Xi are set to meet on Sept 24, with two more summits possible by year-end.

Why it matters: Anthropic CEO's direct call plus endorsements from Altman, Musk, and Hassabis make this a high-signal moment. Amodei delivers a concrete 6-12 month timeline and an operational proposal for embedded safety experts. The deduction: this is an op-ed, not a policy announcement, and...