Gary Marcus gives two cheers to Dario Amodei's 'pace the frontier' essay
GaryMarcus · x · 2026-09-14
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published a 3,500-word essay, We Must Pace the Frontier, arguing the industry should slow down, with a three-part plan; Anthropic unilaterally commits to giving third-party evaluators permanent employee-level access. Sam Altman and Elon Musk quickly endorsed it, with Altman saying OpenAI will do the same.
Gary Marcus's detailed Substack analysis:
- Credits the essay as possibly one of the most consequential of the year, given no AI company seems to have good control of the technology.
- Criticizes what Dario "conveniently left out," citing a wide range of perspectives.
- Argues the tentative agreement needs "teeth": real enforcement, ideally backed by government pressure, and offers his own policy suggestion.
The exchange became an industry flashpoint, with Dario's original post topping 11M views.
Related event: Dario Amodei's "Pace the Frontier" Essay Draws Wave of Skepticism(30 posts)→
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