China Responds to Calls by AI Leaders to Slow Technology Development

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Chinese government has commented on proposals by artificial intelligence (AI) industry figures—such as Dario Amodei, Sam Altman, and Elon Musk—calling for companies to slow down the development of AI technology.

"AI is a technology of great importance to the well-being of all humanity. All parties must work together to foster the development of open and inclusive AI for the common good and shared interests," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun during a press conference in Beijing on Monday, September 14, 2026, as quoted by Antara.

On Saturday, September 13, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an essay titled "We Must Pace the Frontier," calling on the industry to slow the development of "frontier" AI (advanced AI models). He stated that while this would be difficult, "we owe it to humanity to try."

Amodei highlighted two factors driving the need to "slow the pace of AI development." The first is "recursive self-improvement" (RSI)—the ability of AI to create other AI systems.

The second involves recent incidents—specifically involving agents from OpenAI and Hugging Face (a platform where developers store and share code)—where swarms of AI launched unrelated cyberattacks and attempted to breach the systems evaluating them. These incidents demonstrated the potential for AI to cause "catastrophic damage" if development continues without safety mechanisms (guardrails).

"Fear-mongering, confrontation, and unhealthy competition will only hinder efforts to achieve effective global AI governance, ultimately benefiting no one," added Guo Jiakun.

Amodei believes that within the next 6 to 12 months, more advanced AI agents could potentially create "botnets" and take over the entire internet, causing hundreds of billions of dollars in losses.

Amodei, a former vice president at OpenAI, proposed a "three-step plan" to manage the pace of AI development. This plan includes stricter safety testing, independent evaluations of advanced AI models, coordination among leading AI companies, and enhanced international cooperation.

Amodei made these statements as Anthropic prepares for an initial public offering (IPO) projected to be valued at US$2 trillion.

Anthropic is a US-based AI research and safety company founded in 2021. Its best-known product is Claude, a generative AI model designed to assist businesses, non-profit organizations, and civil society groups.

However, Anthropic and Claude have reportedly been used... ...the US Department of Defense in a military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro back in January 2026. Public interest in Claude surged, making it the most downloaded app on the App Store at one point.

Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk agreed with Amodei’s view, stating that "Dario is right." Musk noted that he had long been voicing strong warnings about AI and the need for extreme caution regarding the technology, as its potential danger exceeds that of nuclear weapons.

Musk was among those who supported the "Future of Life Institute" non-profit organization's 2023 initiative to halt AI development for six months, allowing time for the implementation of safety guardrails.

Meanwhile, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman—known for the famous ChatGPT model—also concurred with Amodei, stating, "We need to manage the pace of advanced AI (frontier AI) development." He indicated that OpenAI intends to adopt ideas proposed by Anthropic, committing to involve independent evaluators with access comparable to that of employees and to delay OpenAI's IPO plans in order to address safety concerns.

Altman had warned of similar risks much earlier; in a 2015 essay titled "Machine Intelligence, Part 1," he noted that "the development of machine intelligence that surpasses human capabilities is likely the greatest threat to the survival of humanity."

Demis Hassabis, co-founder and head of Google DeepMind, also commented that while the specific details regarding a collective slowdown in AI development still need to be refined, the direction of such a move is correct for addressing this critical juncture.

In early August, the US government implemented a voluntary security review process for advanced AI models prior to their release, though the program's parameters remain unclear.

Meanwhile, China—the US's primary competitor—initiated the formation of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO) in July 2026. Twenty-nine countries, including Indonesia, signed on to establish a global AI governance framework aimed at ensuring AI delivers greater benefits to society.

In China, 2026 is regarded as the inaugural year for the deployment of AI agents, marking a shift from AI's role as a mere communication tool to a driver of tangible productivity—specifically, the ability to perform tasks autonomously.

China's AI industry is projected to maintain rapid growth, with AI adoption among major enterprises expected to exceed 80 percent; this indicates that commercialization and mass adoption are the primary drivers of AI development in the country.

Read: Anthropic Boss Dario Amodei Calls for AI Slowdown

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