White House tech adviser Sacks tells OpenAI and Anthropic: just slow down, stop using it as leverage

David Oliver Sacks, co-chair of the US President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, publicly responded to OpenAI and Anthropic's recent calls to slow down frontier AI development. He noted that the two companies have formed a duopoly in frontier AI, leading in market share, revenue growth, and model capabilities.

Sacks said that if unreleased models are already powerful enough to make them want to slow down, he supports that responsible decision. But he stressed they should not use it to demand a pause on antitrust laws, form a cartel, or push for regulatory approval above product liability. He pointed out that METR has close ties to Anthropic investors and employees.

Sacks argued that trading some raw capability for reliability and predictability is good business. He warned that using slowed development as a bargaining chip for a regulatory framework amounts to extortion in the eyes of the public and political system.