These days, tech’s biggest artificial intelligence evangelists are sounding like alarmists.
In a Sept. 12 public blog post, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei became the latest high-level executive to raise concerns about the risks AI presents to humanity.
Even though he has given warnings before and, according to him, has “grappled with this duality of risk and benefit” since he started his company, his comments now seem extreme when packaged with warnings from other Silicon Valley execs.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was also pretty vocal about his concerns recently, telling Fortune the company is delaying its own public listing and that because of “everything happening with safety, right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public.”
This is, of course, a far cry from the hubris and lack of concern Altman has shown in the recent past about the effects AI will have on society. After all, he is the same man who once said, “A kid born today will never be smarter than AI, ever.”
That statement is pretty funny when viewed against the numerous videos of ChatGPT 6 being stumped by the most mundane of questions, such as “How many e’s are in the number 17?” Still, it goes a long way toward showing his mindset just a few short months ago.
“Yeah, we got a lot of stuff to do, like meeting this moment of what is going to be required for safety and alignment, and how the industry and governments can work together,” Altman said.
Chinese state media accuses U.S., tech AI oligarchs of ulterior motives
While the about-face may seem odd to you or me, the Global Times, a state-backed Chinese media outlet, has an opinion that might shed some light on the newly cautious Silicon Valley trend.
The newspaper mentioned Amodei specifically when suggesting that the U.S. has an ulterior motive for his recent screed, and that motive is steeped in Cold War-era tradecraft.
According to the Global Times editorial, the essay’s purpose was “to attempt to curb China’s AI development through technological barriers and regulatory monopolies, uphold Washington’s monopolistic hegemony in cutting-edge technology, and exclude China from the global AI governance system.”
“This ‘silent AI Cold War’ is hypocritical and short-cited,” the Global Times declared.
Given its ties to the ruling communist party in China, it’s safe to say that this isn’t a fringe position among China’s ruling class.
Domestically, discussions about the future of AI rarely involve China, so where would its government get the idea that the sudden calls for a slowdown are a way to slow it down?
The answer is President Donald Trump.
White House AI comments spark Cold War accusations
Despite polling showing that Americans don’t want data centers in their back yards, President Donald Trump recently posted on social media to call those communities “backwards and poor.”
His administration is heavily invested in AI, so he warned, “If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame.”
While that criticism was directed at American citizens, the president also warned that China “could not be happier” with American sentiment turning against AI data centers. That last comment seemed to have caught the ears of China’s leaders.
Related: AI data center backlash accelerates ahead of elections
“They know that China has become a strong competitor in AI, and worry that if the U.S. slows down development or tightens regulation, China could catch up even faster,” Xin Qiang, deputy director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times.
“That concern is increasingly shaping U.S. AI policy, with containing China taking up more attention while issues such as safety, governance, and long-term risks are in danger of being pushed aside.”
Ironically enough, whether President Trump meant to or not, using China as a boogeyman to get what he wants legislatively at home is a Cold War tactic. It invokes a period in history, known as the Red Scare, when U.S. politicians used the threat of Russian Communists to push through all types of anti-American, pro-censorship, pro-surveillance laws and ideologies.
The idea is that if the public is scared enough of “the Reds,” it would accept some of the same anti-democratic legislation the Russians were being accused of implementing.
China calls for AI cooperation
This time around, instead of being unofficially at war with its rival for decades, as Russia and the U.S. were during the Cold War, China says the U.S. should work with it to make AI safe for everyone.
“Over the past month, leading U.S. AI companies have repeatedly disclosed safety risks, suggesting that advanced AI systems are beginning to exhibit behavior that can extend beyond developers’ intended boundaries,” the Global Times said. “However, concerns over China remain deeply embedded in the debate.”
Arguing that the rhetoric has fueled fears, China said the alternative is to work together.
“AI is a consequential technology for the well-being of all humanity. All parties should jointly promote the open and inclusive development of AI for good and for all. Fear-mongering, confrontation, and vicious competition will only hamper efforts toward sound global AI governance, which serves no one’s interest,” the Times said, paraphrasing China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun.
The Times also noted that China has proposed to the UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance that countries share the benefits of AI. Its leaders “looked forward to the active participation of all parties with a view to bridging the AI divides,” it added.
Related: Sam Altman’s latest delusional AI prediction doesn’t pass the test
