Anthropic Chief Executive Dario Amodei is advocating for a balanced approach to AI regulation, drawing parallels to the automotive industry. 

In response to reports that the administration of President Donald Trump is considering an executive order to vet AI models before release, Amodei cautioned against both a “wild west” scenario and an overly restrictive Food and Drug Administration-like approval process. 

“We don’t want a wild west where you can just do anything,” Amodei said. For example, when innovating around Mythos, “there was literally no law, no requirement preventing us from just offering this thing with no safeguards. That’s not going to work.” 

However, he warned that excessive regulation could hamper progress, saying he thinks the “FDA slows down medical progress a lot.” 

Instead, Amodei suggested the automotive industry as a model, where “we understand that automobiles are a technology with immense economic value,” but also recognize the need for safety measures. 

“If we hampered the automotive industry, it’d be horrible for the economy, horrible for human welfare and human life and the ability to live our lives,” he said. “Yet we understand that you can’t just start a car company.” 

You can’t sell a car and then ask, “do those breaks work?” Amodei said. 

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon echoed the call for industry-led efforts to address AI risks, emphasizing the need to protect the entire financial system, not just large banks. 

“Every industry needs to do it, the government can’t do it all,” Dimon said. “The government can help us by [making] certain laws we have to deal with. There are certain requirements they can help us by, not overburden us,” Dimon said. 

As regulators grapple with the rapid advancement of AI, finding the right balance between innovation and risk management will be crucial to harness the technology’s potential while safeguarding against unintended consequences, Amodei said. 

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