Anthropic policy chief says AI firms need government oversight, not self-regulation
Anthropic’s public policy head argued that AI companies cannot rely on an honor code for safety and called for collaboration with regulators, while industry leaders remain divided on slowing development.
Anthropic’s head of public policy, Sarah Heck, told participants at the Politico Decoded Summit that AI firms cannot ensure safety by merely following an "honor code" and need clear government guidance.
Heck said the company is in daily contact with the White House and has been working with Congress throughout the year, emphasizing the urgency of addressing issues such as regulation, competition with China and internal safeguards.
Her remarks follow CEO Dario Amodei’s call for a three-step plan to deliberately slow model development without harming commercial advantage or the United States’ leadership in AI. The proposal received quick support from OpenAI chief Sam Altman, SpaceX founder Elon Musk and DeepMind chair Demis Hassabis.
Other executives, including Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, expressed skepticism about imposing slower development, arguing that speed and safety can coexist. Huang said new laws are unnecessary and companies should pace releases until products are ready, while Zuckerberg noted Meta delayed its Muse AI agent for several months to focus on safety.