Academic argues technical 'AI safety' work is product work empowering big labs
j_foerst · x · 2026-11-03
Researcher jfoerst endorses a LessWrong retrospective on AI alignment, arguing that technical "AI safety" work has been product work that massively accelerated and empowered the large labs — disempowering Europe and, long-term, humanity. He questions why academia, non-profits, open-source and governments (especially the UK and Europe) are still doing this, tagging the UK AI Security Institute. The linked post is part of a growing wave of self-critique within the alignment community about the boundary between safety research and lab interests.
Related event: Scholars blast AI safety work as product engineering for big labs(3 posts)→
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