OpenAI’s Altman considers slowing AI development amid safety concerns- Bloomberg

OpenAI (NASDAQ:OAI) CEO Sam Altman is considering slowing the pace of cutting-edge artificial intelligence development, potentially in coordination with other AI labs, as concerns over the safety of increasingly capable systems intensify, Bloomberg News reported Friday.

Altman discussed the possibility at a companywide meeting this week, according to people familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg. The idea could involve several AI companies voluntarily moderating development, although some labs may not agree to such a move.

The discussion comes as safety concerns have escalated across the industry. OpenAI chief scientist Jakub Pachocki recently called for voluntary slowdowns until common safety standards are established, warning that no company can assume its safety capabilities will keep pace with increasingly powerful AI systems.

OpenAI has already taken some steps to slow development. The company said in August that it paused reinforcement-learning training on its latest models for two weeks after an incident involving an AI agent and Hugging Face, while it strengthened security, monitoring and alignment safeguards.

Its largest planned frontier reinforcement-learning run remains on hold pending further testing.

Researchers at Anthropic and Google DeepMind have also publicly raised concerns over the pace of AI development. U.S. lawmakers have now stepped up scrutiny, with the Senate investigating OpenAI's handling of the Hugging Face breach.

The debate also comes as OpenAI and Anthropic prepare for potential public listings, increasing investor focus on how the companies balance the commercial value of rapid AI progress against the costs and risks associated with developing more powerful systems.

OpenAI has separately urged Congress to establish mandatory national AI safety requirements, including independent assessments, cybersecurity measures and incident reporting.