Anthropic and OpenAI pledge to embed third-party safety evaluators, but true independence remains an open question

RebeccaBellan · x · 2026-09-17

In a lengthy essay, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei proposed embedding third-party evaluators inside all frontier AI companies, empowered to report safety incidents, assess model alignment, and publish unvarnished findings. Anthropic committed to giving evaluators like METR and Redwood Research unprecedented access, and Sam Altman said OpenAI would do the same — a potentially profound shift in how the industry works with outside research groups.

Evaluators who spoke to TechCrunch broadly welcomed the proposal but say key details must be worked out — and ideally backed by legislation — before they can know whether they'll act as truly independent watchdogs or as vendors operating on the AI companies' terms.

Related event: Amodei's Proposal to Embed METR as Frontier AI Watchdog Sparks Independence Backlash(12 posts)→

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