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Anthropic Investor Lonsdale Warns AI Safety Push Could Entrench Leading Labs

He accepts that AI safety risks are real but argues that leading developers’ influence over regulation could strengthen their market position.

By 2 min read
Anthropic Investor Lonsdale Warns AI Safety Push Could Entrench Leading Labs
Anthropic Investor Lonsdale Warns AI Safety Push Could Entrench Leading Labs

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An Anthropic investor is warning that the push for tougher AI rules could give the biggest labs too much influence over the market they already lead. At Reuters Momentum AI Austin on Friday, 8VC founder Joe Lonsdale said warnings about existential risks—and advocacy for stricter regulation—could let a small group of companies shape the rules governing their own industry. He pointed to efforts by people close to Anthropic and at OpenAI to support outside groups seeking tighter rules. But he did not say that both companies directly funded those groups. His concern is a risk of rulemaking capture: regulations shaped by leading labs might reinforce their position. The story offers no evidence that regulation has already done so. That distinction matters because calls to slow AI development are not the same as a government policy deal. This month, Anthropic chief Dario Amodei, OpenAI chief Sam Altman, and Elon Musk called for leading firms to slow work on their most advanced models, citing existential risks if safeguards fail to keep pace. Lonsdale says AI safety is real, but cautions against a fear-driven regulatory response. And though he criticized the approach he associates with Anthropic and OpenAI, he praised Anthropic, Amodei, and the company’s talent, and said he was proud to invest. The question now is who gets the strongest voice in writing safeguards—and whether those rules can address real risks without entrenching the companies they govern.

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3 key points

At Reuters Momentum AI Austin on Friday, 8VC founder and Anthropic investor Joe Lonsdale argued that safety warnings and calls for tighter AI regulation could let leading labs shape rules in ways that entrench their market positions. He cited people close to Anthropic and OpenAI funding outside advocacy groups, but did not claim both companies directly funded them. Lonsdale praised Anthropic and CEO Dario Amodei;...

  1. 01

    Lonsdale said AI safety is real, while warning against a fear-driven regulatory response.

  2. 02

    Amodei, Sam Altman and Elon Musk called this month for leading companies to slow development of their most advanced models.

  3. 03

    Lonsdale’s criticism targets the regulatory approach he associates with Anthropic and OpenAI, not Anthropic’s ability to build AI.

An Anthropic investor is challenging the political influence of AI safety warnings from leading labs. At the Reuters Momentum AI Austin event on Friday, Joe Lonsdale said warnings about existential AI risks and advocacy for stronger regulation could help a small group of companies shape the rules governing their own industry.

The influence he alleges

Lonsdale, a Palantir co-founder and founder of investment firm 8VC, singled out what he described as efforts by people close to Anthropic and at OpenAI to fund outside groups seeking stricter AI regulation. His account of those efforts is not a claim that both companies directly funded the groups.

He argued that leading firms could gain too much say in setting industry rules and, through those rules, strengthen their market position. That is a warning about what regulation might do, not evidence that AI rules have already handed them a competitive advantage.

I think that what OpenAI and Anthropic are pushing right now is very dangerous, and we don’t want an oligopoly that controls all of our policy here with the government.

Joe Lonsdale, speaking at Reuters Momentum AI Austin

A slowdown call is not a policy deal

Lonsdale’s comments come after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Elon Musk called this month for leading AI companies to slow development of their most advanced models. They warned that increasingly powerful systems could pose existential risks if safeguards fail to keep pace. Those calls provide context for his objection, though a proposed slowdown and a campaign for stricter government rules are different actions.

Lonsdale did not argue that AI poses no safety risk. “Safety is a real thing,” he said, before cautioning against a response driven by fear and regulation. That leaves two questions in play: whether the risks justify stronger safeguards, and who should have the most say in designing them. His remarks pressed the second question without settling the first.

Criticizing the push, backing the company

His position is notable because he is a small Anthropic investor. At the same event, Lonsdale praised CEO Dario Amodei and the company’s talent, called Anthropic a leader in AI and said he was proud to invest in it. The criticism was directed at the regulatory approach he associated with Anthropic and OpenAI, not at Anthropic’s ability to build AI.

Sources

  1. kfgo.comAnthropic investor Lonsdale says AI firms stoking fear to sway policy

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