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AIQuiet 8d · day 12

AI CEOs pledge to "slow down" — echoing a decade of unmet warnings

A Verge retrospective traces years of AI industry leaders warning about their own technology's dangers, as top executives make a fresh joint pledge.

What to know

  • Top AI executives — Altman, Amodei, Hassabis, Nadella and Musk — recently and publicly agreed AI development should slow down before humans "lose control."
  • The Verge's retrospective shows this is far from the first time AI industry figures have warned about their own technology, dating back to Turing (1951) and Bill Joy (2000).
  • Despite decades of such warnings, including from Musk since 2014, they have produced few binding regulatory results, and observers note executives who profit from AI have reason to be viewed skeptically when calling for its regulation.

“summoning the demon”

Elon Musk, Tesla/SpaceX CEO · The Verge ↗ · Sep 30

Elon MuskElon Musk CEO, Tesla/SpaceX/XSam AltmanSam Altman CEO, OpenAIDario AmodeiDario Amodei CEO, AnthropicDemis HassabisDemis Hassabis Cofounder, Google DeepMindSatya NadellaSatya Nadella CEO, Microsoft

AI CEOs pledge to "slow down" — echoing a decade of unmet warnings
theverge.com

How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articlesposts

Peak 5 pieces in 3h at Sep 16, 7 AM; 9 pieces over 12 days (3 articles · 6 posts) Sep 15, 10 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Sep 15, 1 PM — quietSep 15, 4 PM — 1 piece · 1 article — Newswires 1Sep 15, 7 PM — quietSep 15, 10 PM — quietSep 16, 1 AM — quietSep 16, 4 AM — quietSep 16, 7 AM — 5 pieces · 2 articles · 3 posts — Mastodon 4, Newswires 1Sep 16, 10 AM — quietSep 16, 1 PM — quietSep 16, 4 PM — quietSep 16, 7 PM — quietSep 16, 10 PM — quietSep 17, 1 AM — quietSep 17, 4 AM — quietSep 17, 7 AM — quietSep 17, 10 AM — quietSep 17, 1 PM — quietSep 17, 4 PM — quietSep 17, 7 PM — quietSep 17, 10 PM — quietSep 18, 1 AM — quietSep 18, 4 AM — quietSep 18, 7 AM — quietSep 18, 10 AM — quietSep 18, 1 PM — quietSep 18, 4 PM — quietSep 18, 7 PM — quietSep 18, 10 PM — quietSep 19, 1 AM — quietSep 19, 4 AM — quietSep 19, 7 AM — quietSep 19, 10 AM — quietSep 19, 1 PM — quietSep 19, 4 PM — quietSep 19, 7 PM — 2 pieces · 2 posts — Bluesky 1, Mastodon 1Sep 19, 10 PM — quietSep 20, 1 AM — quietSep 20, 4 AM — quietSep 20, 7 AM — quietSep 20, 10 AM — quietSep 20, 1 PM — quietSep 20, 4 PM — quietSep 20, 7 PM — quietSep 20, 10 PM — quietSep 21, 1 AM — quietSep 21, 4 AM — quietSep 21, 7 AM — quietSep 21, 10 AM — quietSep 21, 1 PM — quietSep 21, 4 PM — quietSep 21, 7 PM — quietSep 21, 10 PM — quietSep 22, 1 AM — quietSep 22, 4 AM — quietSep 22, 7 AM — quietSep 22, 10 AM — quietSep 22, 1 PM — quietSep 22, 4 PM — quietSep 22, 7 PM — quietSep 22, 10 PM — quietSep 23, 1 AM — quietSep 23, 4 AM — quietSep 23, 7 AM — quietSep 23, 10 AM — quietSep 23, 1 PM — quietSep 23, 4 PM — quietSep 23, 7 PM — quietSep 23, 10 PM — quietSep 24, 1 AM — quietSep 24, 4 AM — quietSep 24, 7 AM — quietSep 24, 10 AM — quietSep 24, 1 PM — quietSep 24, 4 PM — quietSep 24, 7 PM — quietSep 24, 10 PM — quietSep 25, 1 AM — quietSep 25, 4 AM — quietSep 25, 7 AM — quietSep 25, 10 AM — quietSep 25, 1 PM — quietSep 25, 4 PM — quietSep 25, 7 PM — quietSep 25, 10 PM — quietYesterday, 1 AM — quietYesterday, 4 AM — quietYesterday, 7 AM — quietYesterday, 10 AM — quietYesterday, 1 PM — quietYesterday, 4 PM — quietYesterday, 7 PM — quietYesterday, 10 PM — quietToday, 1 AM — quietToday, 4 AM — quietToday, 7 AM — quietToday, 10 AM — quietToday, 1 PM — quietToday, 4 PM — quietToday, 7 PM — quiet 1
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  1. 1

    The Verge publishes history of AI executives' regulation calls

    Sean Hollister's Verge piece situates the executives' new pledge within decades of industry warnings — from Turing and Bill Joy to Musk — noting the pattern has produced few binding regulatory results.

    “potentially more dangerous than nukes…”
    — Elon Musk, Tesla/SpaceX CEO · source
    1. first by Mastodon, 11d ago · also The Verge

    • joeross@mastodon.social

      Earnest question: Why can’t AI companies slow progress despite the lack of regulation? Is it as simple as “we refuse to risk falling behind if no one else acts responsibly, so we won’t do it until everyone is compelled by law?” 🔗 theverge.com https://www. theverge.com/policy/995534/a-b rief-history-of-ai-executives-calling-for-regulation

      joeross@mastodon.socialMastodon8d agoview on Mastodon ↗
    2 posts in this stretch →
  2. background

    Top AI executives jointly call for slowing AI development — Over several days, OpenAI's Sam Altman, Anthropic's Dario Amodei, Google DeepMind's Demis Hassabis, Microsoft's Satya Nadella and X's Elon Musk publicly agreed it was time to slow AI development before losing control of it.

  3. background

    Musk begins publicly warning AI is more dangerous than nukes — After investing $38 million in OpenAI and stakes in other AI firms, Elon Musk called AI "potentially more dangerous than nukes" and said working on it was "summoning the demon," later telling US governors AI needed immediate regulation.

  4. background

    Horvitz convenes researchers on AI policy constraints — Microsoft researcher Eric Horvitz, later the company's chief scientific officer, gathered leading AI researchers to consider policies that might constrain autonomous systems' behavior.

  5. background

    Bill Joy warns self-replicating robots rival nuclear weapons — Sun Microsystems cofounder Bill Joy wrote that self-replicating robots could be more dangerous than nuclear weapons, partly because they were being developed inside unregulated capitalism rather than controlled government labs.

  6. background

    Turing warns machines could "take control" — Computing pioneer Alan Turing warned in a lecture that AI would "meet with great opposition" because undying machines would eventually outstrip human power and take control, an early instance of technologists flagging AI risk.

What people are saying 1 voices from 1 site · best of 3 · verbatim