Over 1,100 staffers from AI companies, including John Schulman and OpenAI's Jakub Pachocki, sign a letter requesting the US government to “pace” AI development

More than 1,100 staffers across top artificial intelligence firms have signed a petition that calls on the US government …

Bloomberg 2026-07-29

Context & Ripple Effects

This petition extends a recurring pattern of AI researchers and employees seeking formal constraints: an earlier call for safe harbor for independent product research focused on scrutiny, while a later coalition pressed for international AI “red lines” by the end of 2026.

The intervention is more consequential because it comes from people inside leading developers, and it is reinforced by public support for the Pacing the Frontier initiative from OpenAI and Anthropic. It moves the debate from outside critique toward a question of how government should govern frontier development.

First-order effects

The signatories create visible internal pressure for US policymakers to treat the pace of AI development as a governance issue, rather than leaving it solely to company-level commitments.
OpenAI, Anthropic and other employers represented by signatories face a clearer expectation to reconcile public safety positions with the views of senior technical staff, including the employee-led pacing letter.

Second-order effects

Rival labs may be pushed to state whether they support paced development or prioritize unfettered deployment, making governance posture a more salient competitive and recruiting consideration.
The petition adds weight to demands for government-set guardrails alongside prior calls for international red lines, potentially concentrating policy debate on common thresholds rather than voluntary lab-by-lab policies.

Third-order effects

If employee coalitions continue to organize across firms, frontier-AI governance could become more state-mediated: companies would compete within policy-defined limits as well as on model capability.
The durable tension is between safety constraints and strategic pressure to advance AI; its resolution is likely to shape whether US AI policy favors enforceable shared rules or continued reliance on voluntary commitments.

The trend: AI governance is shifting from abstract expert warnings toward coordinated, inside-the-lab pressure for state-defined limits on frontier development.

Discussion

@eliebakouch Elie on x
i signed this letter because i think it's important to build ways for labs/gov around the world …
@adamthierer Adam Thierer on x
This is a very troubling development. OpenAI and Anthropic are free to slow down their own AI development efforts all they want. …
@shiringhaffary Shirin Ghaffary on x
NEW: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind staff are circulating a letter asking the US government to support a mechanism that could help “deliberately pace” AI development if needed, bc of risks of the technology becoming out of control w/ @rachelmetz https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@shakeelhashim Shakeel on x
Notable Meta signatories include Shengjia Zhao, Chief Scientist at MSL; Dawn Song, VP AI Research; Summer Yue, Director of Alignment and Risk [image]
@abhominedeus Ab Homine Deus on x
I've warned about this. “AI is advancing too fast and will disempower the current ruling class. We need to slow down to give them time to entrench their positions over the dirty plebs.” Gross. ASI cannot take over fast enough.
@ccatalini Christian Catalini on x
If the US labs pace themselves, why would China wait?
@kiko_himself Kiko H. de Mello on x
This is actually great news. Problem is China complying. The only way to have China also pace its development would be a proper export ban on “chips”.
@mikeisaac Rat King on x
my early days of covering tech, employees ruled the roost b/c bigcos needed talent then it swung the other way — many employees piped down, fearing layoffs now feel like A.I. era swinging back again, but for a subsection of specialized talent https://www.pacingthefrontier.com/ [i…
@mackenz_arnold Mackenzie Arnold on x
I think people are too quick to read this letter as exclusively calling for “pauses” to development. …
@woke8yearold Aleph on x
Not happening
@dylanbowmansf Dylan Bowman on x
My sincerest respect to all lab employees who signed this letter. It's crucial to turn down the temperature of the AI race so we can traverse the dangers safely [image]
@govkathyhochul Governor Kathy Hochul on x
I've always said it's not about being first. It's about being the first to get it right. Even the companies building the world's most advanced AI models now agree government has a role to play. New York has already taken action. It's time for the federal government to step up and…
@muratcan @muratcan on x
I haven't changed my mind about acceleration or open-source AI. I still signed this. …
@stevesi Steven Sinofsky on x
https://www.pacingthefrontier.com/ If you don't like what your company is doing and claim some moral high ground in saying that, then what does it mean if you continue to advance that mission? This is the definition of signaling. Just quit and work on something you deem moral. Yo…
@garrisonlovely Garrison Lovely on x
1,100+ employees at frontier AI companies, including cofounders of OpenAI and Anthropic …
@shakeelhashim Shakeel on x
Big new open letter from AI company employees just dropped. “We request that the US government support …
@zeffmax Max Zeff on x
a lot of powerful statements in here. From one Anthropic employee: “I've seen how the relentless pace of AI makes it hard for society to keep up and how it puts pressure on labs to cut corners on safety.”
@averiorg @averiorg on x
We strongly agree with this letter's premise: as frontier AI capabilities advance …
@suchenzang Susan Zhang on x
according to them, chip controls work and adversarial advancements are all due to distillation. …
@gabrieldwu1 Gabriel Wu on x
Huge new letter that calls for in international effort to develop the tools to deliberately pace RSI: https://pacingthefrontier.com/ I'm proud to have signed this (alongside 1000+ other AI lab employees)!
@suchenzang Susan Zhang on x
it's really too bad that of those who have signed this puff piece, only a handful might actually …
@afinetheorem Kevin A. Bryan on x
This statement is correct, and signed by a ton of top researchers (though I wish they'd asked Chinese lab research heads to sign!). As in comments, the pace of AI progress internally is moving very fast. G2 China-US agreement with strict, pro-innovation but pro-safety, is urgent.
@nickcammarata Nick on x
I used to think slowing down was pointless, like slightly delaying a roller coaster. pausing at gpt2 for a year wouldn't have changed anything. but I've been shocked by how much agents has sped up the best interp/alignment researchers I know. +6mo might decide how this goes
@zeffmax Max Zeff on x
this is now live, and wow some big names on this call for the US to “pace” AI development. The letter is not calling for a pause or slowdown in AI development, but says that “the world should have the option.” [image]
@thezvi Zvi Mowshowitz on x
Full text of the Pacing the Frontier statement, signed by 1,122 employees for frontier AI companies so far, including a bunch of heavy hitters at OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and others: [image]
@charliebull0ck Charlie Bullock on x
This Pacing the Frontier letter is a good development, IMO. I am not currently a pause/slowdown guy …
@zackkorman Zack Korman on x
I'd probably take AI researchers' warnings more seriously if they weren't constantly talking about cybersecurity and revealing how little they know about the topic. [image]
@theobearman Theo Bearman on x
Quite the top list! [image]
@hadas_gold Hadas Gold on x
Ok these are some big names on this open letter, calling on the US government to support governance tools to “deliberately pace the frontier of automated AI development” - chief scientist of OPenAI, Meta, Anthropic cofounder, VPs at Google etc ... similar sentiment to what Sam Al…
@tedlieu Ted Lieu on x
This is why we need to pass the bipartisan AI Kill Switch Bill asap. Right now, and into the future, there will be circumstances when we realize an AI frontier model has capabilities beyond what we thought, or has gone rogue. Humans need the ability to turn these things off.
@stevesi Steven Sinofsky on x
Please government stop the very work I am doing. I seem unable to find the agency to get a different job and find an employer with whom I have a shared alignment. Help. We. Can't. Stop.
@mark_k Mark Kretschmann on x
These Decel employees should be fired immediately. Imagine working at a car company and protesting against the development of better models! Absolutely unacceptable behavior from OpenAI and Anthropic employees.
@repcasar Congressman Greg Casar on x
The people closes to new AI technology are warning us it could soon be very, very dangerous. We need strong new rules to prevent catastrophe. https://x.com/...
@logandobson Logan Dobson on x
happy to run down how this will go: US Negotiators: “China, will you guys slow down your AI development” China: “no” OR China: “yes” (lying) end of International Effort
@agraylin Alvin Wang Graylin on x
Over 1000 #AI researchers are asking the US Government to help find a way to slow down AI pace of progress! …
@micsolana Mike Solana on x
are we really doing another open letter
@shakeelhashim Shakeel on x
What does the “pace” letter actually call for? Obviously I have no idea what the signatories think themselves. …
@tszzl Roon on x
@jakehalloran1 honestly I signed it as my real name but PTF people decided it's cooler if I'm roon
@dylhunn Dylan Hunn on x
I signed today's statement on pacing the frontier, alongside 1000+ other lab employees …
@tszzl Roon on x
pacing up and down the frontier, with a nervous and irregular gait
@chadwahl Chad Wahlquist on x
Cool as long as the deliberate pace is warp speed
@chrisgpt Chris on x
🚨Anthropic urges pacing development by signing petition because of RSI …
@milesaturpin Miles Turpin on x
Automating AI R&D could quickly result in capabilities and behaviors we can't understand or control. We have a shot at coordinating to pace this out, we shouldn't waste it. Proud to have signed: https://www.pacingthefrontier.com/
@tedlieu Ted Lieu on x
House Republican leadership and the trump Administration let the AI industry run wild. That was a major mistake. Now even some in the industry are saying to the federal government: please don't let us run wild. November is coming.
@boazbaraktcs Boaz Barak on x
Proud to have signed this statement. I don't know if a coordinated slowdown will be the right approach, but we need to prepare in case we'll need to do so.
@wholemars @wholemars on x
petition to let China kick our ass and to accept them as our masters
@brivael Brivael Le Pogam on x
Lmao. OpenAI and Anthropic should just stop. Wrapping an LLM is not a company or a sustainable business model. They know it from the beginning.
@peterwildeford Peter Wildeford on x
1100+ employees at OpenAI + Google + Meta + Thinking Machines + other companies all sharing concern that AI may develop faster than our ability to control it. Race dynamics make handling AI a mess. As we get to superintelligence, more options to pace AI development are needed.
@miles_brundage Miles Brundage on x
One of the reasons I decided to go all in on frontier AI auditing after leaving OpenAI is so that, if AI companies need to take costly steps on safety/security, they can be reassured (by independent auditors) that their peers are doing the same thing. https://x.com/...
@adrienle Adrien Ecoffet on x
I signed this and think it's really cool. AI progress is awesome and should arguably go even faster. But we are standing on the foothills of RSI and nobody knows for sure how fast things could get. We should create the option to pace progress from RSI. https://www.pacingthefronti…
@suchenzang Susan Zhang on x
it's really too bad that of those who have signed this puff piece, only a handful might actually …
Arthur Goemans Arthur Goemans on linkedin
Alongside more than 1000 colleagues across frontier labs, I signed the open letter on Pacing the Frontier. …
@trahan.house.gov Congresswoman Lori Trahan on bluesky
1,100+ people building AI just signed a statement warning it could soon move beyond our ability to control it. — When the builders sound the alarm, Congress should listen. (1/2)
r/tech r on reddit
Mark Zuckerberg Blasts Centralization of A.I. Power (not the Onion)
r/singularity r on reddit
Pacing the Frontier
@openai @openai on x
At the core of our mission is working through how to ensure increasingly powerful AI benefits everyone. We believe that, at some point in the future, AI acceleration for frontier model development may be so high that the world will need to pace the rate of AI advancement. We ho…
@anthropicai @anthropicai on x
We support this petition, signed by our CEO, several co-founders, and senior staff. Our own research on recursive self-improvement, published last month, points to the need for tools to deliberately pace the frontier of AI development so society can prepare. We're glad to see bro…
@max_paperclips Shannon Sands on x
Many thoughts on this. Not all of them negative, depending on what the “pacing” …
@w01fe Jason Wolfe on x
OpenAI has said that humans should remain in control of AI development, and that decisions …
@wholemars @wholemars on x
Anthropic comes out in support of “Pacing the frontier”
@andrewcurran_ Andrew Curran on x
Dario Amodei has signed. [image]
@willdepue Will Depue on x
lab coordination guys! it's not impossible, i believe. awesome to see
@ataeime Mehdi Ataei on x
I love OpenAI but the self-inflicted stagnation of labs must not become the ceiling for everyone else. Companies have no divine right to stay in first place, nor should they be permitted to rebrand their dethronement as a safety crime committed by those who outpace them.
@yonashav Yo Shavit on x
actual props
@gailcweiner Gail Weiner on x
No I dont want the US globally controlling AI
@teortaxestex @teortaxestex on x
Masterful counterattack by Anthropic. The phrasing is immaculate too. Might work. [image]
@firstadopter Tae Kim on x
RSI RSI RSI “Our own research on recursive self-improvement, published last month, points to the need for tools to deliberately pace the frontier of AI development so society can prepare.”
@ccatalini Christian Catalini on x
What's the next move to get China at the pacing table? How will we monitor defection through shadow GPU fleets?
@rand_longevity Rand on x
there is no wall
@shakeelhashim Shakeel on x
Wow — an endorsement from OpenAI. [image]
@gerritd Gerrit De Vynck on x
Dario has now signed this and Anthropic as a company officially supporting it. This makes more sense than half the c-suite signing it. I still think policy class and regular people are deeply skeptical of these letters, especially when they're signed by people with the power to a…
@firstadopter Tae Kim on x
Wow. AI researchers from every major lab (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.) signed a petition asking …
@daveshapi David Shapiro on x
“We don't want to lose our lead, so please help us kneecap everyone else” Come on guys. You can't sign the open weight pledge and then drop this stupidity 24 hours later. Everyone needs to read up on Red Queen Theory. But furthermore, they need to read about offensive realism to …
@kimmonismus @kimmonismus on x
A year ago, hardly anyone would have thought this possible. A total of 1,132 employees …
@patrickmoorhead Patrick Moorhead on x
This “sounds” in practice really nice, but it will never happen. No country will stop or slow down. They may say they will, but they won't. I guess if it gets out of hand these companies have a “told you so moment.” What nonsense.
@abhominedeus Ab Homine Deus on x
How many lives will this cost? I mean that in a very literal sense. How many people are they willing to sacrifice to maintain the status quo. Aging and disease on the verge of being solved but yeah sure let's pump the brakes.
@iamemily2050 Emily on x
As expected, there is no hope from OpenAI and Anthropic; they want to stay ahead of everyone while using these cheap tricks to eliminate any competition. There are so many people dying every day from all types of diseases with no cure available; instead of solving these problems,…
@j_asminewang Jasmine Wang on x
happy that OAI is supporting this collective statement on main - I think it's the first employee statement on slowdown & I hope it shifts the Overton window further that a real slowdown option (via the USG) is plausible & desirable, from the folks working closest to the frontier
@stevesi Steven Sinofsky on x
It is their company. They could just stop.
@andrewcurran_ Andrew Curran on x
The Chief Scientists of Thinking Machines, META, Anthropic and OpenAI all signed.
@herbiebradley Herbie Bradley on x
dario using sam's strategy on the 2nd open letter of the last two weeks
@gallabytes @gallabytes on x
I did not sign this petition fwiw. Still not at all convinced that slower is safer than faster. With strong benevolent institutions slower is probably safer on net, but with our current crop it's a much more mixed bag.
@dylan522p Dylan Patel on x
Slowing down AI is a ultimately wishful thinking The genie is out of the bottle The most importan competition ever with potentially immeasurable benefits to the winner will not suddenly have people stop and sing kumbaya While many lab employees have signed, many more havent. Prac…
@alexandrosm @alexandrosm on x
With all the goodwill Anthropic has gained from China accusing them of theft and distillation attacks, I'm sure Xi will be signing onto this pause AI 2.0 petition any moment now.
@inductionheads @inductionheads on x
Just a reminder that every day ASI is delayed costs 100k lives So let's not virtue signal too hard here fellas
@pigeon__s @pigeon__s on x
go ahead bro try to convince China to slow development down I'm SURE they'll agree and even if they do I'm SURE that they won't still just develop in secret since it would lowkey really really really stupid for them not to and same with the US too even if everyone SAYS they won't
@jon_stokes Jon Stokes on x
I would say this is the dumbest episode of mass delusion I've ever seen in my life, but I lived through the 2020s. Anyway, I truly did not see the leading lights of the industry joining forces with the anti-datacenter crowd, yet here we are.
@josephjacks_ @josephjacks_ on x
Dumb. Zero Chinese labs will sign this.
@angaisb_ Angel on x
All the cures that could be found by AGI, delayed We don't need to decelerate, we need to accelerate more imo
@adriandittmann Adrian Dittmann on x
[image]
@robertjbye Robert Bye on x
I've signed this
@quxiaoyin Xiaoyin Qu on x
1. It's silly to try to control the pace. China will not follow and Kimi k4 won't slow down 2. …
@basedjensen @basedjensen on x
I have a problem with pacing not least of all is slowing down is going to kill thousands of people from curable deseases. No one in good faith or good consciousness should advocate for slowing down of progress. It's distinctly anti human. Ant and 1000 researchers who signed this …
@davidondrej1 David Ondrej on x
nice try
@jayagup10 Jaya Gupta on x
This is actually really funny. 1.) Anthropic claims profound capability acceleration …
@quxiaoyin Xiaoyin Qu on x
I've become PTSD to the word “AI safety” or “alignment” not because I don't care about safety …
@daniel_mac8 Dan McAteer on x
Official Anthropic account: “Our own research on recursive self-improvement, published last month, points to the need for tools to deliberately pace the frontier of AI development so society can prepare.” Closest thing you'll get to a confirmation that Anthropic (and probably Ope…
@kantrowitz Alex Kantrowitz on x
In one week: An open letter to “pace” AI development. And an open letter supporting Open Source. Doesn't really go together.
@fchollet François Chollet on x
A significant portion of current AI “discourse” is less about technological capabilities and more about frontier lab employees navigating their own self-esteem and sense of identity.
@zackkorman Zack Korman on x
If we pause AI, I'm sure governments and companies will use that time wisely to proactively strengthen cybersecurity defenses. If you don't read that as a joke, you have zero experience working anywhere near security.
Benedict Evans Benedict Evans on linkedin
There are all sorts of reasons to be worried about the AI deployment build-up, and plenty of sensible people think this could be a bubble. …
Christian Ryan Christian Ryan on linkedin
Recursive self-improvement is not here, and it is not inevitable. But on current trends, AI designing and building its own successors is no longer a fringe scenario …
David Clark David Clark on linkedin
This may be the most important week for AI policy all year. A few things are coming to a boiling point all at once and we're in a shaky place …
Franklina Tawiah Franklina Tawiah on linkedin
I agree with Mark Zuckerberg that AI should empower everyone, — not remain controlled by a powerful few. — Open-source AI has already lowered barriers, sparked creativity …
NewsMax.com Solange Reyner on x
OpenAI, Anthropic Endorse AI Safety Letter
@andrewcurran_ Andrew Curran on x
OpenAl and Anthropic employees are circulating a petition calling for the US government to deliberately pace Al development in order to prevent it from advancing too quickly. This is very close to language Sam Altman used in a podcast interview this morning: ‘We may have to pace …

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