AI Giants Accused of Slowing Development for Self-Interest
A proposed class-action lawsuit has been filed against Anthropic, OpenAI, SpaceXAI, and Google for allegedly agreeing to slow AI development. The plaintiffs claim this agreement would reduce the value consumers get from paid AI subscriptions.
The lawsuit argues that the coordination started in July 2026 after leading AI labs signed a statement admitting there is 'intense competitive pressure not to unilaterally slow' development.
The plaintiffs recognize the need for AI development to slow for safety reasons, but say Dario Amodei's cooperation proposal is a shortcut that substitutes collective restraint for individual accountability.
Attorney Nick Rowley, lead counsel for the plaintiffs, says 'AI will quickly spin out of human control and could kill us all if we allow AI safety and protocol ... to be controlled by private self-serving agreements between the world's most powerful 'for profit' technology companies.'