Anthropic co-founder backs mandatory AI kill switches — SkimNews
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- Jack Clark, co-founder of Anthropic, said a third-party-verifiable 'kill switch' to shut off dangerous AI may eventually need to be mandatory, framing it as something 'society is going to want to pass rules around'
- Dario Amodei, Anthropic's head, called for slowing AI development and closer monitoring while preserving 'commercial advantage'
- Anthropic scientist Evan Hubinger put the chance of AI-driven human extinction at '>10% within the next decade,' a figure Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton called 'not unreasonable'
- US lawmakers have proposed the Kill Switch Act, requiring shutdown mechanisms and empowering certain agencies to order AI tools turned off or limited
- Donald Trump rejected AI slowdown efforts, calling extinction fears a 'HOAX' and framing AI dominance as a race against China: 'WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS!'
- The UK government rejected creating a kill switch, with a spokesperson arguing it 'would not prevent them being developed or misused elsewhere'
- OpenAI, most recently valued at $852bn (£630bn), will not pursue an IPO this year, with Sam Altman citing the ongoing AI safety debate; Anthropic is reportedly preparing a potentially record-setting offering
Why it matters: Anthropic's own leaders are publicly backing rules that could constrain their models, while Trump calls the underlying fear a 'HOAX' and the UK dismisses a kill switch as pointless. A record Anthropic IPO is reportedly looming while OpenAI delays its $852bn offering over the safety debate — making the policy fight a direct hit on the industry's biggest financial moments.
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