The Most Hopeful (And Concerning) Moment Yet in AI

It’s been a whirlwind week in AI news. Weeks after a series of hacking incidents by rogue agents at OpenAI and Anthropic, we’ve seen a cascade of top AI researchers blow the whistle on what they call the catastrophic and even existential risks posed by the current pace of development. Then, over the weekend, Dario Amodei called for a slowdown in AI research — a call that was echoed by his competitors Sam Altman and Elon Musk. If you’re feeling both concerned and hopeful at this moment, you’re not alone. Real threats are opening the door for real change. Tristan and Aza are going out into the world, talking to the media, technologists, and policymakers to turn this momentum into action. Today on the show, Tristan shares how he’s feeling in this critical moment, breaks down the headlines from an insider's perspective, and points to tangible steps we can take right now to avoid the worst-case scenario. You probably have questions about what’s happening. Good news: Tristan and Aza are gearing up for their annual Ask Us Anything episode. Pull out your phone, record your question, and send it to undivided@humanetech.com. CORRECTIONS The quote from Ajeya Cotra that Tristan cites is from her personal Substack, not the official METR report. She is also one of three contributors to the report, not the sole author. Tristan incorrectly referred to Dario Amodei’s warning that an AI swarm could “take down” the internet. His actual phrasing was “take over” the internet. President Trump’s call-in to the All In Summit occurred on Monday, 9/14, not Sunday, 9/13.   RECOMMENDED MEDIA Watch “The AI Doc” on Netflix Sign The Pro-Human AI Declaration  METR’s investigation of the Hugging Face incident Dario Amodei’s call to “Pace the Frontier” The Pacing the Frontier Open Letter “On the Loose” by Dean Ball "An Alien Mind" by Jakub Pachoki "AI May Become the Third Superpower" by Paul Tudor Jones   RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES “Rogue AI” Used to be a Science Fiction Trope. Not Anymore. The Self-Preserving Machine: Why AI Learns to Deceive Daniel Kokotajlo Forecasts the End of Human Dominance Former OpenAI Engineer William Saunders on Silence, Safety, and the Right to Warn Mustafa Suleyman Says We Need to Contain AI. How Do We Do It?          Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.