Major AI labs like OpenAI and Anthropic cannot legally coordinate on safety standards or development pace due to the Sherman Antitrust Act, which prohibits collusion. This legal barrier is a primary reason they are publicly calling for government involvement, as it would provide the necessary waiver to work together without facing antitrust litigation.

A major obstacle to coordinated AI safety efforts is the fear of antitrust litigation. Labs are reluctant to agree on pacing or sharing safety techniques because it could be viewed as illegal collusion. Zvi Mowshowitz suggests a simple government action would be to provide an explicit antitrust waiver for such collaborations.

Legal experts warn that an industry-wide agreement to pause or slow AI development could be interpreted as an 'invitation to collude' under antitrust law. This coordination among dominant firms to limit progress, even for safety reasons, could attract significant legal and regulatory scrutiny.

A significant barrier to voluntary safety pacts among AI companies is antitrust law. An agreement to slow development could be prosecuted as illegal anti-competitive collusion, as it would limit the technology available to consumers. This makes government-led frameworks essential for any coordinated industry action.

Acknowledging their safety plans might be inadequate, leaders from multiple frontier labs have begun to seriously entertain a coordinated slowdown. This represents a major shift, as they also explore legal "safe harbors" to collaborate on safety without triggering antitrust violations, breaking the frame of the current race.

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.

Major AI labs like Anthropic and OpenAI cannot legally form agreements to "pace" development without government approval. The Sherman Antitrust Act prohibits such collusion, which could be seen as forming a cartel, even if the stated intention is safety.

Top AI labs are hesitant to collectively slow down development for safety reasons due to concerns about being accused of forming an anti-competitive cartel. This creates a paradox where the industry requires government involvement or a legal exemption to coordinate on risk mitigation.

Former DOJ antitrust chief Jonathan Cantor suggests that AI companies asking to coordinate on safety might be motivated by a desire to slow the cash-burning race to the frontier, allowing them to stabilize their economics before going public.