AxiosSep 12, 2026

Anthropic CEO calls for immediate slowdown in AI development

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei is calling for an immediate slowdown in the pace of AI development, warning of potentially devastating consequences in a matter of months otherwise. Why it matters: Amodei pulled no punches in a new essay, cautioning that swarms of rogue AI agents could take over the internet in as little as six months from now. What they're saying: "We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models. Progress will still seem fast, and we must make wise use of the time we gain," Amodei wrote. Threat level: Amodei specifically referenced the recent OpenAI-Hugging Face rogue agent incident, which he said could have been far worse. "Given the accelerating rate of AI capability development, it's my worry that in 6–12 months such a swarm could be capable of taking over the entire internet with a persistent botnet (potentially causing hundreds of billions of dollars in damage), and that the scale of damage would continue to increase from there if AI becomes

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