Dario Amodei calls to 'pace the frontier'; Marcus says China hawkishness makes a real slowdown impossible
GaryMarcus · x · 2026-09-13
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published "We Must Pace the Frontier," arguing AI could cure most major diseases in 5–10 years yet poses serious risks — loss of control, cyber and bioterror misuse, economic disruption — worsened by commercial races to the bottom. His plan features METR-style third-party monitoring of labs to make safety a competitive "race to the top." Robert Wright critiques it: it's not much of a slowdown (no pause on training runs, and parts work against slowing), and Amodei remains wed to a Manichaean democracy-vs-autocracy framing aimed at China, undercutting cooperation. Gary Marcus adds: you can't be a real China hawk and committed to a slowdown — a deal is required.
Related event: Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei Urges Industry to Slow Frontier AI(107 posts)→
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