A lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California accuses top AI companies Anthropic, OpenAI, SpaceXAI, and Google of forming an illegal agreement to slow down their AI development. The suit claims this violates antitrust laws by coordinating efforts to delay advancements, potentially reducing the value for consumers paying for AI subscriptions.

The complaint centers on events from September 12, when Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for industry leaders to collaborate on slowing advancements to prioritize safety. Amodei expressed concerns about rogue AI agents threatening the internet within six months and advocated for a more cautious approach to AI development. He suggested a three-point strategy described as ‘pacing the frontier.’

In an interview with CBS News, Amodei said, “I don’t think I fully appreciated what it would actually be like when the progress was as fast as it was.” The lawsuit indicates that his rivals, including OpenAI’s Sam Altman, SpaceXAI’s Elon Musk, and Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis, confirmed their agreement on the same day.

The plaintiffs argue that antitrust laws prohibit competitors from jointly deciding that competition is dangerous. Nick Rowley, representing four named plaintiffs who pay for AI subscriptions, leads the suit on behalf of a proposed nationwide class of similar subscribers. Rowley warns that AI could become uncontrollable without proper safety protocols, managed independently of commercial interests.

Representatives from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and SpaceXAI did not immediately comment on Saturday.

Amodei acknowledged the antitrust concerns in his essay, suggesting that government mediation or a waiver for safety discussions might be beneficial. He speculated that building AI correctly could minimize risks significantly: “If we build in the right way, I think the probability of something bad happening is very low,” he said in his CBS News interview.