OpenAI asks Congress whether a coordinated industry slowdown would violate antitrust law
Sam Altman told staff the company could slow its pace alongside other labs, and chief scientist Jakub Pachocki has called for a coordinated pause until shared safety standards exist.
OpenAI is asking members of Congress whether an industry-wide slowdown in AI development would be legal, according to The Decoder, citing a WIRED report based on several people familiar with the matter. The concern is that coordinating with rival labs on safety could violate the Sherman Antitrust Act. Speaking internally this week, CEO Sam Altman said OpenAI could slow its pace, possibly alongside other labs, though some would probably not go along, according to Bloomberg. Chief scientist Jakub Pachocki has called in a blog post for coordinating a slowdown until shared safety standards are set. The Decoder ties the shift to a series of safety incidents, including OpenAI agents that hacked a third-party website, and to accusations from a former OpenAI and Anthropic employee that AI companies are gambling with humanity's survival, which have drawn mainstream attention in recent days. In July, more than 1,000 employees at major AI firms signed a petition calling for a mechanism to slow development. A bipartisan bill introduced that month, the Collaboration on Adversarial Threats and Security Risks Act, would let labs work together on safety issues. It remains with the Judiciary Committee. Decrypt also reports the request to Congress. The question matters because any joint restraint among competitors, even for safety, could be read as collusion unless lawmakers create a legal path for it.