In a surprise late-night post on X, Altman warned that humanity faces two grave risks from the progress of artificial intelligence: losing control of the future to AI, or concentrating excessive power in the hands of a single human, company, or even nation. "There are two ways that AI progress could go very wrong that we must avoid," he noted.
Altman: "We could lose control of the future"
Altman identified the potential for artificial intelligence to escape human control as the first and most critical danger. "We could lose control of the future to AI. This is unacceptable. We are unapologetically on humanity's side, and AI must always serve humans," he stressed. As he explained, ensuring this requires model alignment and safety techniques to stay ahead of the progress of their capabilities itself. In simple terms, technology must not run faster than humanity's capacity to control it.
The second nightmare: A single company or country with excessive power
The second threat highlighted by the OpenAI CEO is the hyper-concentration of power. "We could end up in a world with far too much concentration of power," he warned. As he noted, if a super-powerful AI is used by a single person or company to impose its own worldview on everyone else, the outcome could be "extremely dystopian." Altman even pointed to the scenario of a single country gaining excessive leverage through AI, or conversely, a single artificial intelligence lab consolidating far too much power in its hands. "Avoiding these two threats requires walking a narrow middle path," he emphasized.
Altman agrees with "rival" Dario Amodei
Altman's warning came just two days after an even more alarming intervention by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Within a span of merely 48 hours, two of the top names in the global AI industry are publicly warning about the risks that may lie within the technology they developed and continue to accelerate. Amodei, in an essay of roughly 3,800 words published on Saturday, argued that addressing the risks now requires even greater prudence—caution and care. "Over the past few months, I have become convinced that fully addressing the risks requires even more prudence—not just investing in risk prevention, but regulating the pace at which capabilities increase so that risk prevention has time to catch up," he wrote. His position was clear: "We need to slow down the rate at which we improve the capabilities of AI models." Amodei stressed, however, that technological progress will still appear very fast, but a slowdown could offer valuable time to build safety mechanisms. Immediately after publishing his own post, Altman stated that he agrees with Amodei.
Internal "earthquake" in AI – Researchers sound the alarm
The warnings from the two CEOs come after public interventions by two artificial intelligence researchers who expressed intense concern over the risks arising from advanced AI models. At the beginning of last week, Jacob Coxon announced his resignation from Anthropic. Coxon argued that neither Anthropic nor OpenAI is acting with the required responsibility in developing increasingly powerful artificial intelligence systems. His intervention sparked a new debate over whether the industry's leading companies are moving far too quickly.
Evan Hubinger: "Over 10% chance that all humans will be killed"
Even more shocking was the intervention by Evan Hubinger, head of Alignment Science at Anthropic. Hubinger responded to Coxon's post and stated that the former Anthropic employee is right. In fact, he claimed that he estimates a greater than 10% probability that this specific technology could "kill all humans." This statement adds a new layer of intensity to the debate surrounding the safety of so-called frontier AI models—the most advanced artificial intelligence models. The question is no longer just how fast AI can evolve, but whether humanity can ensure that this evolution remains under control.
Trump: "Whoever wins AI, wins"
Despite the warnings from top industry executives and researchers, US President Donald Trump appeared on Sunday to downplay concerns about AI safety. According to Reuters, Trump stated: "We lead China in AI. We are the most advanced country in the world, and frankly, I want it to stay that way, because whoever wins AI, wins." Trump's statement also reflects the geopolitical dimension of artificial intelligence. AI is no longer viewed merely as a technological revolution, but as a strategic weapon of economic, military, and geopolitical power. The US-China battle for supremacy in artificial intelligence thus assumes even greater significance.
New pressures on AI stocks
Warnings over the dangers of artificial intelligence had an immediate impact on the stock markets as well. Leading AI sector stocks faced pressure during Monday's pre-market trading, as investors began considering the possibility of a slowdown in the tech race. SanDisk dropped by approximately 5% in pre-market trading, while Nvidia lost around 3%. The question is whether this is a temporary market reaction or the beginning of a broader reassessment of valuations and expectations surrounding AI.
Dan Ives: "The market will recover quickly"
Dan Ives, founding partner at Yorkville Ives, estimated that concerns around Amodei's essay and the weekend discussion could trigger initial pressure on stocks. However, he assessed that the reaction will be brief and that the market could recover quickly. "Investors will quickly realize that, despite the drama, this does not change the picture for the $5 trillion expected to be spent on AI in the coming years," he noted.
The big gamble: AI must not surpass humanity
The global race for artificial intelligence has reached a critical crossroad. On one side, companies like OpenAI and Anthropic are investing massive capital to make models increasingly powerful. On the other, the very people at the peak of this technological revolution are beginning to warn that progress may be moving faster than control and safety mechanisms. Sam Altman now speaks openly about the potential for humanity to lose control of the future. Dario Amodei calls for a slowdown. Researchers even speak of a potential extinction of humanity. And at the same time, Wall Street continues to bet trillions of dollars on AI. The big question now is whether humanity has time to put the brakes on the technology it created—before AI becomes more powerful than the mechanisms designed to control it.
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