Top AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic cannot unilaterally slow development, even with safety concerns. They fear that competitors or foreign adversaries would seize an insurmountable advantage, forcing them to seek government-led coordination to pace development safely.

The rationale within labs like Anthropic is that they are "locked in a race to get there first because they believe no one else will act responsibly." This creates a dangerous prisoner's dilemma where the collective best interest (slowing down) is at odds with individual incentives (winning the race).

Top AI labs like Anthropic publicly state that slowing down AI development would benefit society. However, they are caught in a strategic trap: a unilateral pause is unviable. Without a global agreement, any lab that pauses simply allows less cautious competitors to seize the lead, potentially making the ecosystem less safe.

Leaders at top AI labs publicly state that the pace of AI development is reckless. However, they feel unable to slow down due to a classic game theory dilemma: if one lab pauses for safety, others will race ahead, leaving the cautious player behind.

CEOs from leading AI labs like Google DeepMind and Anthropic have publicly stated they would prefer to slow down development to address safety concerns. However, they feel compelled to continue the race because if they pause unilaterally, less cautious competitors, including state actors like China, will not.

The "Pacing the Frontier" letter, where AI employees ask for government-mandated slowdowns, highlights a prisoner's dilemma. No single lab can afford to slow down due to "competitive pressure" unless all are forced to do so simultaneously through regulation. This coordination problem is why they appeal to an external authority.

Regulating AI progress is a game-theoretic challenge, not a technical one. Like climate change, the rational choice for any single company or country is to defect from a slowdown agreement to gain a competitive edge. This pushes all actors toward a race that collectively increases risk and leads to the worst possible outcome.

Major AI companies are not solely seeking to stifle competition with regulation. They are also signaling an inability to self-regulate amidst intense competitive pressure, effectively asking external bodies to impose a mandatory safety floor that applies to everyone.

Despite safety concerns from their own employees, AI labs are trapped in a prisoner's dilemma. Any single company that pauses development risks bankruptcy, and any nation that does so risks falling behind competitors like China. This creates a race that can only be paced through a coordinated, international agreement.