Anthropic CEO and co-founder Dario Amodei has called for stronger safeguards and international oversight of artificial intelligence, warning that the technology is advancing faster than expected and could pose serious risks if developed without adequate controls.
Amodei acknowledged that the AI industry has not always been sufficiently open about the potential dangers associated with increasingly powerful systems.
“I won’t lie to you, there are real dangers,” he said, stressing the need for developers to take safety testing seriously as AI capabilities continue to expand.
His remarks followed warnings from former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon, who raised concerns about the possibility of self-improving superintelligent AI becoming powerful enough to threaten humanity.
Amodei said the speed of recent advances had surprised him, describing the rapid progress as a “warning sign” and arguing that the industry needs to consider slowing down the pace of development.
However, he clarified that he was not calling for AI research to be halted completely. Instead, he said each new generation of AI models should undergo proper safety testing before being widely deployed.
As part of its approach, Anthropic plans to provide independent evaluators with permanent, employee-like access to its AI models so they can assess whether the company is meeting its safety commitments.
The Anthropic chief also expressed support for federal regulation and suggested that an emergency “kill switch” could have a role in controlling dangerous AI systems. At the same time, he opposed an outright ban on advanced AI, pointing to potential benefits such as breakthroughs in medicine.
Amodei also advocated international cooperation to establish what he described as a “speed limit” for AI development, while acknowledging that reaching an agreement among competing countries and companies would be challenging.
He further raised concerns about the concentration of such powerful technology in the hands of private companies, arguing that governments and other democratic institutions should have a role in overseeing its development.
