platform updates ·
OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind confirm weeks of joint AI safety talks
The three companies racing hardest to build frontier AI just admitted they’ve been working together. OpenAI’s global head of policy, Chris Lehane, told reporters on Tuesday that OpenAI has been in talks with rivals Anthropic and Google DeepMind for several weeks about how to manage the safety risks of advanced AI, Bloomberg reported.
The disclosure follows a dramatic weekend: Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an essay calling on the industry to slow the pace of frontier AI development and warning of potentially catastrophic outcomes. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis, and xAI’s Elon Musk all publicly backed Amodei’s call. Altman said OpenAI would join Anthropic in embedding third-party evaluators inside the company to monitor safety.
The backdrop is tense. Days earlier, former OpenAI and Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon resigned, accusing both labs of racing toward self-improving superintelligence without acting responsibly. And the cooperation itself raises legal eyebrows: coordinated slowdowns could look like output restriction under antitrust law. Lehane said OpenAI doesn’t believe the talks need an antitrust waiver — but noted he’s in Washington meeting lawmakers, and bipartisan legislation on catastrophic AI risk is on the table.
Why it matters
When the three fiercest competitors in AI start coordinating, the pace of model releases, safety testing norms, and possibly regulation all shift. For everyone building on these models — including small businesses — this is the conversation that decides what guardrails the next generation of AI ships with.
Sources
- Reuters — OpenAI is working with Anthropic, Google on AI safety
- TechCrunch — OpenAI, Anthropic, Google have been in talks on AI safety for weeks
- Neowin — OpenAI confirms AI safety talks after extinction warnings
- CNN — Top AI companies have discussed creating their own standards body
Spot an error? We correct quickly and note it. Contact us via the contact page.