It’s time for AI labs to take a drug test

Jacob Coxon, a researcher at Anthropic, said on September 8 that he had resigned from the company over concerns that the industry is acting irresponsibly by racing toward self-improving artificial intelligence. Evan Hubinger, a scientist at Anthropic, said in a post on social media network X that Coxon was correct. Sam Altman, CEO of rival OpenAI, told employees that the company is open to slowing development of AI, Bloomberg reported on September 10.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Republican Senator Ted Cruz, and Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar have all said that they hope to gain momentum on a bill to regulate AI products.

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.

By Robert Cyran

NEW YORK, Sept. 11 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Tech moguls’ “move fast and break things” ethos is a bad fit for chatbots posing catastrophic risks. As security incidents proliferate, regulation becomes inevitable. Pharmaceutical trials offer a template for products promising life-changing benefits, but with heavy uncertainty.

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