Anthropic, OpenAI, Google face antitrust suit over AI slowdown
What's the story
Leading artificial intelligence (AI) companies, including Anthropic, OpenAI, SpaceXAI, and Google have been sued for alleged collusion. The lawsuit was filed in a US federal court on Friday. The complaint alleges that public statements made by the companies earlier this month constitute an illegal business agreement under US antitrust law.
Collusion claims
Sherman Act violation
The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District Court of California, alleges that a public plea by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei for "industry-wide coordination" to "pace the frontier" of AI advancement was an illegal business agreement.
The call was quickly supported by SpaceXAI head Elon Musk, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Google DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis.
The complaint claims this collective agreement among industry rivals violates the Sherman Act by forming an unlawful pact to restrict competition.
Legal proceedings
Class-action status sought
The lawsuit has been filed on behalf of four plaintiffs: attorney Cheyenne Hunt, Florida attorneys Charles Buist and Nick Spetsas, and California resident Christine Bullock.
The plaintiffs have indicated their intention to seek class-action status on behalf of others who may have been affected by corporate decisions to slow down development.
Nick Rowley, one of the lawyers who filed the suit, said it aims to stop private arrangements from sidelining regulatory oversight.
Public statement
We deserve real AI safety standards: Hunt
Hunt took to social media platform X to criticize the companies for bypassing legislative scrutiny.
She said, "I'm suing Anthropic, OpenAI, X, and Google because we deserve real AI safety standards."
Hunt also accused the AI firms of branding their agreement as a safety breakthrough when it is not.
"It's four corporations agreeing not to compete on the one thing regulators were about to force them to adopt, safety standards," she said.
Regulatory concerns
Hunt slams AI firms for bypassing legislative scrutiny
Hunt also questioned the timing of this 'deal,' saying it was struck just as lawmakers were gaining real momentum to pass binding AI regulations.
She said, "So instead of enforceable law, we got a deal cut among the companies themselves, one they wrote, they enforce, and they can rewrite whenever it's in their best interest."
Hunt further stressed that if these companies actually believe their products could risk human extinction, decisions shouldn't be made behind closed doors by four CEOs.