OpenAI Wants to Know if an AI Industry Slowdown Would Even Be Legal

OpenAI asked Congress whether a coordinated slowdown of frontier AI development would violate antitrust law under the Sherman Act. Chief scientist Jakub Pachocki said voluntary slowdowns are needed for safe self-improving AI. Legal experts warn such coordination could be viewed as output restriction. A bipartisan bill, the Collaboration on Adversarial Threats and Security Risks Act, would permit AI labs to collaborate on safety without antitrust risk, but it remains pending.