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Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei is pushing back against Republican efforts to impose a decade-long ban on states regulating artificial intelligence that’s included in President Donald Trump’s mega-bill.
“A 10-year moratorium is far too blunt an instrument. A.I. is advancing too head-spinningly fast,” Amodei said in a New York Times op-ed published Thursday. “I believe that these systems could change the world, fundamentally, within two years; in 10 years, all bets are off.”
Amodei continued: “Without a clear plan for a federal response, a moratorium would give us the worst of both worlds — no ability for states to act, and no national policy as a backstop.”
The Anthropic founder said he preferred that Congress work alongside the White House to set up a new AI transparency standard “so that emerging risks are made clear to the American people.”
The House-passed legislation is mainly focused on renewing a suite of tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year and eliminating taxes on tips and overtime pay. But it also includes the AI measure, which has already whipped up GOP opposition in the House from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.
Republicans are attempting to muscle the bill through Congress using a strict budgetary process to overcome united Democratic opposition, and the AI provision still may be cast out because it’s not related to federal spending.
“That’s an open question,” Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said in a Thursday CNBC interview.
Anthropic also is dealing with a lawsuit filed Wednesday from Reddit, alleging that the AI company had unlawfully used the data of its users to train and enhance its systems. Reddit is now the first big tech company — not just a publisher or rights holder — to challenge an AI developer in court over training data.
“We will not tolerate profit-seeking entities like Anthropic commercially exploiting Reddit content for billions of dollars without any return for redditors or respect for their privacy,” Reddit chief legal officer Ben Lee said in a statement accompanying the lawsuit.