'We owe it to humanity to try': Anthropic's CEO Just Called For Global AI Slowdown. Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and Google’s AI Chief Agree.

Dario Amodei, Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis do not agree on much. But over the weekend, all four backed the same uncomfortable idea: Artificial intelligence (AI) models may be improving too quickly for safety researchers to keep up.

This could have real consequences for investors.

Anthropic's CEO wants to buy the AI industry more time

In an essay published Saturday, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called on the industry to slow its development of "frontier" AI -- the most advanced models -- saying that while it would be difficult, "we owe it to humanity to try."

Amodei pointed to two catalysts that inspired him to write the essay: one, recursive self improvement (RSI) -- AI building AI -- and two, a recent incident in which OpenAI agents attacked unrelated cybersecurity targets and tried to compromise the system grading them.

The Anthropic Chief says that he believes within six to 12 months, more capable AI agents could potentially create an internet-scale botnet and cause hundreds of billions of dollars in damage.

Sam Altman made the clearest commitment

This isn't exactly out of character for Amodei, who has made a habit of publicly predicting unwanted outcomes from AI development. So have other AI leaders, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

What's unusual about this moment, however, is how quickly and explicetly executives from around the backed Amodei's essay. The reaction has been one of nearly unanimous agreement -- at least with its core idea of the need to contain AI progress.

Altman agreed that the frontier needs pacing, said that OpenAI would also give independent evaluators employee-like access, and told reporters that the company would push its expected IPO in order to address safety concerns.

SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX) CEO Elon Musk's agreement was light in the details, but clear: "Dario is right." Google's AI Chief, Demis Hassabis said that he agreed with the ideas in the essay, but that the details need work.

The chip-stock sell-off is a warning, not proof of an AI slowdown

The industry seems to have a shared diagnosis, but there's a long way to go before it agrees on what to do about it. Investors didn't wait for those details to emerge.

On Monday, the iShares Semiconductor ETF dropped 5.6% as the big names in AI hardware fell on the news. Nvidia, Micron Technology, Broadcom, and Advanced Micro Devices all dropped between 3.4% and more than 5%. There certainly was other news moving the market -- the 10-year Treasury yield is nearing multi-decade highs while oil prices surge -- but it's hard to ignore the impact of public calls for an AI slowdown from its top leaders.

If a real slowdown comes, it could have serious impacts on stocks dependent not just on AI growth continuing, but continuing to accelerate. Many chipmakers, construction companies, electrical equipment manufacturers, and others are trading with valuations that are built on AI and an ever-increasing amount of capital flowing into and out of the industry. Those multiples could compress if the narrative shifts.

Even a modest move from "build as fast as possible" to "build fast, but not too fast" would change what investors expect from these companies.

Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Broadcom, Micron Technology, Nvidia, and iShares Trust - iShares Semiconductor ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.