Anthropic CEO calls for AI safety slowdown as market narrative shifts

Dario Amodei wants frontier AI companies to adopt stronger oversight and coordinate on safety, raising fresh questions about spending on chips and data centers.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei is calling for the artificial intelligence industry to slow development for safety reasons, a position that has prompted renewed debate over the spending driving AI-related markets.

Amodei has described the AI race as a process that could increase the risk of catastrophic failure if companies continue accelerating without stronger safeguards. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk have also expressed support for slowing down, according to Bloomberg.

Amodei wants AI companies to place financial-regulator-style oversight teams inside their organizations and to coordinate on safety standards.

He has also called for frontier AI companies in democratic countries to slow their development, while arguing that the US and China should coordinate globally.

To bring China into that framework, Amodei has proposed using restrictions on exports of advanced chips and measures against Chinese companies that distill rival AI models as negotiating leverage.

The argument has raised questions about whether a slower AI buildout could reduce expected demand for data centers and semiconductors.

Asian markets initially reacted negatively, with SoftBank Group shares falling about 10.7%, while SK Hynix and Kioxia declined 7.4% and 6.4%, respectively, according to the report.

Other possibilities remain. US President Donald Trump has emphasized staying ahead of China, while demand from businesses could keep data-center investment moving even if frontier laboratories slow their research.

The debate comes as investors assess whether high AI valuations depend on spending continuing to rise until more advanced systems arrive.

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