Topline
Billionaire Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei asserted the AI industry “lied to people about the fact that this technology had risks” in a CBS Sunday Morning interview, which aired one day after he published an essay calling for slowing down development that other top tech billionaires quickly endorsed.
Amodei made the remarks on CBS Sunday Morning, one day after calling for AI companies to slow down their frontier research.
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
Speaking to CBS Sunday Morning’s Jo Ling Kent, the Anthropic CEO said AI technology was advancing at an “exponential” pace and claimed he hadn’t “fully just appreciated what it would actually be like when the progress was as fast as it was.”
Amodei called for AI companies to “moderate” the speed of their advancement and for third-party evaluators to test new models, which he compared to food inspectors.
Amodei also commented on proposed legislation to regulate AI companies—he didn’t immediately endorse the ban on artificial superintelligence proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, but said an AI kill switch, like the one proposed by Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., and Rep. Nathaniel Moran, R-Texas, “could be a good idea.”
When asked if he would be willing to give up AI technology to the government, Amodei said “to the right combination of governments,” adding, “I am concerned that one single government could abuse this technology just as easily as a single company could.”
Amodei said he wasn’t sure about “handing over” his company’s technology, but said he would support democratically-elected governments having “some kind of oversight, some kind of joint governance.”
Crucial Quote
“I won’t lie to you, there are real dangers,” Amodei said. “And I think for too long, the industry lied to people about the fact that this technology had risks.” However, the Anthropic CEO said he would not support a complete ban, especially when China and other “authoritarian countries” are also developing the tech. Amodei also said AI had the potential to “cure diseases that have plagued humanity for a millennia,” though it could come with “great risks” to the public. “My view here is, it has always been very strange that this technology is being built by a private company. People ask me that question all the time—why isn’t this being built by government. And the strangest thing about it is, I agree with them, I’m uncomfortable.”
FORBES VALUATION
We estimate Amodei’s net worth at $15.5 billion, ranking his fortune as the 193rd-biggest in the world.
News Peg
Amodei’s comments come as leaders in the legislature debate the best way to regulate AI. “This is a very important issue. And it’s not one that we can rush into,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker on Sunday. “And we have been very deliberate about this,” Johnson said, before calling for “some guardrails, some safety measures” but ones that would “make sure that we don’t lose our edge in the global competition on this with China.” Speaking to CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday morning, Johnson said, “we cannot put a moratorium on this, because China will overlap us.” Johnson’s approach drew immediate pushback from some Democrats, including former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Shortly after his appearance on “Meet the Press,” Buttigieg told Welker he was “shocked” by Johnson’s statement that the U.S. shouldn’t “rush” into regulation. “You know what’s moving quickly? AI is moving quickly. And for Congress to just sit on its hands, for the White House to do nothing real is something that is deeply dangerous to the American people and the world.”
Leave a comment