Lawsuit Claims AI Companies Conspired to Slow Development

A lawsuit has been filed against Anthropic, OpenAI, SpaceXAI, and Google, accusing them of making an illegal agreement to decelerate their AI development. The suit, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, claims these leading AI companies violated antitrust laws. The alleged coordination aimed to lessen the value consumers receive from paid AI subscriptions.

The suit highlights that on September 12, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei issued an essay urging industrywide collaboration to slow advancements in favor of safety. Amodei warned of potential internet takeovers by rogue AI within six months without cautious development. He proposed a three-point plan named “pacing the frontier.”

In an interview on “CBS News Sunday Morning,” Amodei expressed surprise at the rapid pace of AI progress. He emphasized the need for slower, more careful development of technology.

According to the lawsuit, competitors Sam Altman of OpenAI, Elon Musk of SpaceXAI, and Demis Hassabis of Google DeepMind confirmed their agreement with Amodei’s approach on the same day. “The antitrust laws do not permit competitors to decide among themselves that competition is too dangerous,” the suit claims.

The legal action, spearheaded by attorney Nick Rowley, represents subscribers to services like ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, and Gemini who pay for AI access. Rowley warned against AI safety and protocols being dominated by agreements among powerful tech companies.

Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and SpaceXAI have not commented on the matter as of Saturday.

In his original essay, Amodei noted antitrust concerns but suggested the U.S. government could mediate or facilitate discussions on AI safety. A narrow waiver for specific safety conversations could be beneficial, Amodei proposed.

He expressed optimism during his interview, stating that if AI is developed correctly, risks remain low. Conversely, improper development heightens the likelihood of adverse outcomes.