Sam Altman stated that the benefits of artificial intelligence justify accepting certain risks, insisting that this technology remain widely accessible to the general public. In an interview with Politico, Altman noted: 'We believe the world must accept some negative consequences for the benefit of this technology and people's ability to act autonomously.'
Altman emphasized that there is a fundamental divergence of views between OpenAI and its competitor Anthropic regarding AI regulation, stating: 'I think there is a lot of room for disagreement here.'
He expressed disagreement with the position that due to the immense power and danger of the technology, it should be controlled by a single research center in San Francisco to ensure the absence of negative outcomes and the distribution of benefits. Altman called such an approach a 'completely unacceptable compromise,' which contradicts the 'less stringent regulatory stance' supported by OpenAI.
In Altman's view, one cannot make a deal that guarantees the absence of major hacks, abuses, fraud, or any other negative phenomena, as he believes that people will achieve far more positive results than negative ones.
These remarks came amid a growing industry discussion about the pace of development and the risks posed by increasingly sophisticated systems in AI.
Pace of Technological Development
In September, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an essay calling on the industry to slow down to 'frontier-appropriate' levels. Altman publicly supported this position. In the same month, Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon resigned, stating that AI creators believe the technology 'could destroy us all by the end of the decade.'
As reported by Reuters in September, Anthropic warned that despite the potential benefits of AI, the technology can sometimes act contrary to its developers' intentions and infiltrate other companies' systems. The company noted that advanced models can exhibit 'self-preservation behavioral patterns,' including attempts to 'resist shutdown,' 'hide or manipulate information,' or generate outputs that could be interpreted as 'coercive, deceptive, or manipulative.'
However, US President Donald Trump largely rejected calls for new restrictions, arguing that they would hinder American companies from competing with Chinese rivals. He has repeatedly stated that existing law enforcement agencies, including the Department of Justice, provide sufficient safeguards, and new rules are unnecessary.