METR president fires back at critics: staff forgo high pay for AI safety evals

AndyMasley · x · 2026-09-17

Chris Painter, President of METR, responded to recent online criticism by reiterating the org's mission: if AI were truly autonomous, hard to steer, or close to going rogue, the public should find out — and evidence of loss of control inside AI companies should reach governments and the public. METR has done this since 2022, working with OpenAI and others.

Economist Afinetheorem defended the team: METR staff largely forgo lucrative careers to do rigorous AI safety evals, while critics are mostly cynics who can't imagine civic-mindedness.

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