Anthropic, OpenAI and other AI companies are calling for a coordinated slowdown in model development or releases as concerns grow that capable systems could behave dangerously. Antitrust specialists interviewed by WIRED warn that describing the effort as a “slowdown” or “pause” could make it look like an agreement to reduce output, potentially inviting a US conduct investigation under the Sherman Act. Such probes can last years and demand millions of pages of records and employee depositions.
The experts distinguish that language from cooperation on safety standards. Shared safeguards against catastrophic risks could increase output and competition, and existing US law may protect some standards work if companies follow the National Cooperative Research and Production Act. The issue is sharpened by competition between Anthropic and OpenAI, their planned or expected IPOs, and political pressure to keep AI development moving rapidly. Neither company gave WIRED a comment.
https://www.wired.com/story/the-ai-slowdown-is-an-antitrust-mess/
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npub1sx…dz7z7
2026-09-17 20:06:03 UTC
Author Public Key
npub1sxexewvzysc3affq4yzzh7w8e3udyujap2vlj7t6lkdg5dvhp24q4dz7z7Published at
2026-09-17 20:06:03 UTCEvent JSON
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"content": "Anthropic, OpenAI and other AI companies are calling for a coordinated slowdown in model development or releases as concerns grow that capable systems could behave dangerously. Antitrust specialists interviewed by WIRED warn that describing the effort as a “slowdown” or “pause” could make it look like an agreement to reduce output, potentially inviting a US conduct investigation under the Sherman Act. Such probes can last years and demand millions of pages of records and employee depositions.\n\nThe experts distinguish that language from cooperation on safety standards. Shared safeguards against catastrophic risks could increase output and competition, and existing US law may protect some standards work if companies follow the National Cooperative Research and Production Act. The issue is sharpened by competition between Anthropic and OpenAI, their planned or expected IPOs, and political pressure to keep AI development moving rapidly. Neither company gave WIRED a comment.\n\nhttps://www.wired.com/story/the-ai-slowdown-is-an-antitrust-mess/",
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