Calls for an AI Slowdown 9/14/26

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Katie Kramer (1:02)

Hi, I'm CNBC producer Katie Kramer. Today on Squawk Pod, pause, the race to succeed in artificial intelligence hitting the brakes.

Andrew Ross Sorkin (1:11)

And they were talking about these risks then. Dario was talking about these risks then. I think I first met Demis in 2013

They were talking about this then.

Katie Kramer (1:21)

Leaders in AI from Anthropics, Dario Amodei, OpenAI, Sam Altman and DeepMind's Demis Hassabis say, It may be time to slow the pace of AI to keep it safe. But who told them to go super fast anyway?

Rebecca Quick (1:34)

I want to see the prospectus and see the risk factors that they have to put into this.

Katie Kramer (1:38)

And what about the future of the AI companies on Wall Street, ahead of expected blockbuster listings? Former Senator Joe Manchin says Washington should get involved.

Joe Manchin (1:48)

I'm asking President Trump to use the power you have to create an executive order that prevents any IPOs until there's passed legislation that basically protects America.

Katie Kramer (1:58)

But he adds a dose of realism.

Joe Manchin (2:00)

If you think they're going to fix it, they won't. There's no incentive for Congress to fix anything today because they're too busy fighting each other.

Katie Kramer (2:07)

Plus…

Walter Isaacson (2:08)

If there's a 10% chance it destroys humanity…

Joe Kernen (2:10)

That's one person saying…

Walter Isaacson (2:12)

No, no, no. That's a lot of people now.

Katie Kramer (2:14)

Walter Isaacson, Elon Musk's biographer, on managing innovation.

Walter Isaacson (2:19)

We should be pushing AI systems to be more closely connected and in the control of humans rather than swarms of agents that are designed to do things without humans.

Katie Kramer (2:32)

It's Monday, September 14th, 2026 Squawk Pod begins right now.

Andrew Ross Sorkin (2:39)

Stand back to your side in 3, 2, 1

Katie Kramer (2:41)

Cue, please.

Rebecca Quick (2:44)

Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Squawk Box right here on CNBC. We are live from the NASDAQ market site in Times Square. I'm Becky Quick, along with Joe Kernen and Andrew Ross Sorkin.

Andrew Ross Sorkin (2:54)

And the big story this morning, maybe the big story all week, all weekend was this, the AI narrative now officially shifting after a handful of researchers warned last week that the race to more capable technology could spin out of control and lead to human extinction. On Saturday morning, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an essay saying, quote, We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models. Progress will still seem fast and we must make wise use of the time we gain. He expanded on his thoughts on CBS yesterday.

Dario Amodei (3:29)

There are real dangers. And I think for too long, the industry lied to people about the fact that this technology had risk. The idea was that they would present it as positive as possible. We've never done that. But too much of the industry did that.

And so it starts with telling the truth. And the truth is there are risks.

Andrew Ross Sorkin (3:54)

A whole number of tech titans joined Amodei's call for slowing down the pace of AI progress after his essay was published, both OpenAI's Sam Altman and Elon Musk said, I agree with Dario.

Google's Demis Hassabis weighed in saying, Dario's essay points towards the right path forward. And then Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella adding his voice saying on X, any pursuit of super intelligence has to be grounded in the core principle that if the AI we build is not helping humanity and under human control, it's not worth pursuing. In Ireland this weekend, President Trump said the US needs to maintain its AI edge over China.

Donald Trump (4:36)

We're leading China in AI. We're the most sophisticated country in the world. And frankly, I want to keep it that way because whoever wins, AI wins.