AI companies born from safety fears keep 'succumbing to capitalism', thread argues
birchlse · x · 2026-09-13
Replying to David Wallace-Wells's claim that every leading AI company outside DeepMind was founded over safety concerns, Alexander McCoy traces the chain: Sam Altman started OpenAI because he distrusted Google's ability to resist capitalist pressures, then succumbed to them himself; Dario Amodei split off to found Anthropic, which in turn is accused of the same slide.
The author's three takeaways: this history flatters no one involved, it doesn't negate the sincerity of their safety beliefs, and it doesn't suggest corporate self-regulation is the right answer.
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