Oxford scholars slam frontier AI labs' 'doomsday talk while racing to build' contradiction
SandraWachter5 · x · 2026-10-29
Sandra Wachter and Brent Mittelstadt of the University of Oxford published "AI's existential crisis", arguing tech companies race to build frontier models while simultaneously warning of catastrophic doomsday risks — a contradictory stance.
The authors propose reframing the public as primary financial stakeholders in AI, so policy must demand concrete human well-being rather than vague economic promises.
They also criticize frontier labs for pretending antitrust law must be suspended so they can form a cartel, for seeking a regulatory approval process that supersedes product liability, and for wanting the same evaluators to police competitors that aren't even at the frontier.
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