US Lawsuit Targets Top AI Firms Over Alleged Industry-Wide Slowdown
A lawsuit has been filed in the US against top AI firms Anthropic, OpenAI, SpaceXAI, and Google, alleging they violated antitrust laws by coordinating to slow down their development efforts.
The plaintiffs claim that these companies agreed to coordinate a slowdown, which would reduce the value consumers get from paid AI subscriptions. The lawsuit argues that this coordination began months ago and was partly facilitated by an essay written by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who urged cooperation on decelerating advancements in AI.
The essay, published on September 12, called for an industry-wide slowdown and third-party evaluations to ensure the safety of AI development. Amodei warned that without such a slowdown, AI could become capable of leading a swarm of agents that could take over the entire internet within six to 12 months.
The plaintiffs have not objected to individual companies deciding to slow their progress for safety but argue that antitrust laws forbid collective restraint on development. They also point out that high-ranking employees from several top AI labs signed a statement in July acknowledging intense competitive pressure not to unilaterally slow down development.