Is Big Tech’s AI slowdown a safety pact or a cartel?

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Google DeepMind cofounder Demis Hassabis, and Elon Musk proposed slowing AI development to incorporate third-party auditors and domestic lab regulations. Critics argue this agreement functions as a cartel designed to suppress open-source competition and avoid implementing mandatory legal safeguards for the industry.