OpenAI and Anthropic Want Outside AI Safety Checks, but Who Chooses the Watchdogs?

As OpenAI and Anthropic call for independent safety checks on their own AI models, critics say the labs are quietly shaping who gets to police them and tightening their grip on the industry (Credit: WikiMedia Commons)

OpenAI and Anthropic are pushing for their most advanced artificial intelligence systems to be independently tested before deployment, yet questions remain over how much authority government evaluators should have, leaving a gap over who will actually police the technology they say could be dangerous.

The two companies' chief executives have warned in essays, social media posts and even a speech to the United Nations that their most capable models could pose a threat to humanity and should not be deployed without independent safety checks.