Ex-Microsoft exec on AI pause calls: we paused to fix virus bugs without begging Congress
neil_chilson · x · 2026-09-18
Responding to reports that OpenAI and Anthropic staff were "blindsided" by their CEOs' calls to slow AI development, former Microsoft executive Steven Sinofsky draws on history: Microsoft once "paused" Windows, Office, and Server to fix bugs that made viruses possible — surprising at first, then reassuring. His team worked 18-hour days adding features (aka potential vulnerabilities), and Wall Street eventually accepted that security was a good idea.
His point: Microsoft took it as its own responsibility, never appealing to Congress to force a pause or asking competitors to pause first. "Grow up. Add logging, checking, debugging, and more to your products. It needs it."
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