Abstract:
On October 4, according to Bloomberg, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent criticized the warnings issued by some well-known AI figures about the existential risks posed by the technology, believing that these warnings were alarmist and unhelpful in solving the problem, and called on the AI industry to strengthen self-regulation and come up with solutions.
Besant
"I think we have to be prepared for various scenarios, but on the other hand, some people in the AI community are just making alarmist noises without coming up with solutions," Bessant said in an interview with Axios published on Saturday. "That's not leadership."
Previously, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI head Sam Altman, and xAI CEO Elon Musk called on the industry to slow down the development of the most advanced models in September, citing growing risks to humans. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has also warned that the technology is powerful enough to kill "a billion people" and called for government regulation.
However, U.S. President Trump almost immediately rejected such calls, calling those warnings about the increasing risks to humanity a "hoax" and insisting that the United States must continue to advance AI development to maintain its lead over China. Bessant also expressed a similar view in an interview with Axios, "We cannot lose our lead against China."
Bessent said: "It is the leaders of each laboratory who must bear responsibility, and I agree with this. I think that various laboratories have gradually accepted this idea."
However, when asked about calls from AI industry executives for regulation, Bessant responded: "Well, then they should slow down. What we want is to speed up development safely. It is the heads of the laboratories who have to take responsibility, and I agree with that."
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