AI regulation debates intensify over safety concerns, innovation and regulation

Leading developers of artificial intelligence (AI) are raising concerns about the need to ensure the safety and alignment of cutting-edge frontier models as they become more capable.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Microsoft have all signaled a focus on safety issues related to developing frontier AI models to ensure that they’re aligned with serving humanity.

Those calls come amid warnings from AI researchers that there’s a chance that AI could wipe out humanity within the next decade if the pace of advancement reaches the point with more capable models that a self-improving superintelligence gets beyond the control of its developers.

Concerns about AI running amok also come amid intense competition in the AI industry to put forward more capable models, while the federal government grapples with how to regulate the emerging industry without stifling it amid its rapid growth and as it becomes a flashpoint in the geopolitical competition with China.

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The debate over AI regulation is contrasting safety concerns and calls for regulation with worries about undercutting innovation and competition. (recep-bg/Getty Images)

Nancy Tengler, CEO and chief investment officer of Laffer Tengler Investments, told FOX Business that “I do think there’s a risk that if regulation is too far-reaching that it will stifle innovation and the up-and-coming OpenAIs or up-and-coming Anthropics. So I would appreciate a light touch if there is regulation, because at this point I’m not even sure we’ve defined what the problem is.”

Tengler added that “I don’t think Congress is going to be able to regulate AI, at least not now. I think it’s beyond their aptitude,” and added that tech companies have called for regulation of their industries in recent history amid public controversies.

“Just look back as recently as a few years ago when Meta was in the crosshairs for censoring and Mark Zuckerberg just kept saying, ‘please regulate us.’ It’s a tried and true strategy from Silicon Valley to certainly embrace the notion of regulation, and I think part of that is because it doesn’t happen,” she added.

Tengler added that she thinks “there is some risk to innovation that will take place if these companies become bigger and more powerful.”

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Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the future of artificial intelligence should empower people rather than replace them as the company unveiled its latest vision for AI. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Julia Cartwright, senior research fellow in law and economics at the American Institute for Economic Research, told FOX Business that “this is a classic case of regulatory capture by the folks at the top.”

“There has been a history of top companies actually aligning themselves with Washington and trying to get regulations on the books because it makes their industry more predictable… but it also raises the barrier to entry to any type of competition, and I think that’s part of the story,” she said.

Cartwright added that the AI regulation debate poses a “collective action problem” because “even if all of the companies in the U.S. say, ‘yes, we are on board with this regulation,’ and now it becomes law, and it’s tied our hands together, what if China’s companies do not want to tie their hands? We are in a global competitive space.”

FOX Business reached out to OpenAI, Anthropic and Microsoft for comment. The three companies have all outlined their approaches to safety and alignment issues in recent public comments or releases.

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Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for companies to “pace the frontier” of AI development. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Microsoft unveiled a draft version of its “Humanist AI Code of Conduct” this week, which it plans to use as a guide for the development and oversight of Microsoft AI models after a final version is published later this year.

The company said the code of conduct is “motivated by a single overriding objective: that humans must retain meaningful control over AI so that it can help people live healthier, happier, and more productive lives.”

It also touched on the development of AI superintelligence, saying that “Containing, controlling, and aligning such a powerful force is one of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced. We must therefore be completely clear about why we are inventing these systems and how we intend to control them.”

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently said that the AI company is delaying its highly anticipated IPO until next year, telling Fortune in an interview that “Meeting this moment of what is going to be required for safety and alignment, and how the industry and governments can work together – I’m happy to be able to do that as a private company.”

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company plans to delay its IPO to next year to focus on safety issues in the AI space while it remains a private company. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has called for leaders in the industry to “pace the frontier” of AI development. He added that the company plans to give third-party evaluators employee-level access to the company’s systems to verify adherence to the company’s safety measures, report on incidents and assess the alignment of models during training.

Altman said in a post on X that he thinks that approach “is a great idea, and we will do the same [at OpenAI].”