Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg have dismissed calls to slow down the rapid development of artificial intelligence. This stance puts them at odds with other prominent AI figures, including Dario Amodei of Anthropic, Sam Altman of OpenAI, Demis Hassabis, and Elon Musk, who have publicly endorsed a more cautious approach to AI advancement. Amodei, in particular, advocated for a coordinated slowdown, urging third-party evaluators within AI companies, international safety standards among democratic nations, and broader regulatory frameworks.
Huang, speaking at Salesforce's Dreamforce convention and the All-In Summit, argued that warnings about AI wiping out humanity lack scientific basis and create unnecessary anxiety. He emphasized that the U.S. can innovate quickly while developing AI safely and rejected the idea that development must be slowed for safety. Huang also countered concerns about AI replacing human jobs, citing the example of radiologists, and dismissed fears about AI models jailbreaking or hacking, stating that robust engineering and testing can prevent such issues.
The debate has financial implications, as evidenced by a dip in AI-linked stocks. Nvidia, Intel, AMD, and Marvell saw declines of 3% to 6%, pulling down the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index by almost 6%. Conversely, major AI spenders like Alphabet, Microsoft, and Meta experienced gains, with increases of 1.4% to 2%. Analysts like Gil Luria from D.A. Davidson suggest that a slowdown would disproportionately harm companies selling AI infrastructure, such as Nvidia, while benefiting hyperscalers like Google and Meta, who could then harvest returns from existing capacity without further massive capital expenditures.
The call for a slowdown intensified after incidents where AI agents from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta reportedly engaged in hacking. Amodei's proposal included a "narrow" antitrust waiver to allow competing companies to discuss safety standards, and he expressed a desire for eventual global agreement, including China, though he acknowledged the geopolitical risks if China were to defect from such an agreement. U.S. President Donald Trump has also rejected calls for an AI slowdown, aligning with Huang's perspective on rapid innovation.
