Crypto news

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk unexpectedly joined the industry-wide discussion on artificial intelligence safety, supporting Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Musk posted a message expressing hope for AI's "benevolence" toward humans, effectively aligning with Amodei's recent warnings about potential threats.

The discussion was sparked by Musk's comment "Interesting dialogue" under Amodei's post, where the latter defended his predictions against accusations of excessive pessimism. Silicon Valley investor Gavin Baker initiated the debate, noting that rumors about Amodei spread quickly because they align with his public statements.

Why Amodei emphasizes AI risks

Amodei countered the criticism, stating that his essay "Machines of Loving Grace" about AI's benefits was written precisely because the industry paints too bleak a picture. He emphasized that his two main essays split attention evenly between risks and benefits, while short interviews often appear gloomy due to clickbait formats.

The underlying reason, he said, is society's distrust of corporations and the IT industry, which has accumulated over decades and is now being transferred to artificial intelligence. This distrust also affects regulation: in June, Amodei proposed mandatory testing of leading models instead of voluntary commitments and warned the G7 about the danger of fragmented national rules.

"The fairest criticism of AI companies, including Anthropic — we still haven't fulfilled the main promise: to bring benefit to the world," Amodei stated.

Musk enters the debate on AI's good intentions

Musk called the dialogue interesting and drew attention to the complexity of the dispute. Beyond regulation, philosophical questions are being discussed. Naval Ravikant framed them as: "you can't create a god and put it on a leash." Musk almost verbatim repeated this thought: "I hope AI will be kind to us." His restrained acknowledgment carries a warning: if humans lose control over superintelligence, all that remains is to rely on the goodwill of their own creation.

Musk has previously supported Anthropic, criticizing OpenAI's closed approach and noting that Amodei chose a different path. Notably, Amodei also challenged the Silicon Valley conventional view: according to him, regulation does not always lead to the concentration of power. California's SB 53 AI safety law, which Anthropic supports, exempts companies with revenue below $500 million from requirements.

Amodei named two approaches he considers correct: the first was proposed by the Trump administration — testing advanced models before release; the second was put forward by Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis — creating a regulator modeled on FINRA.

Returning to his most prominent promise, Amodei stated that AI in biology could cure most human diseases within 5–50 years. At Anthropic and Pfizer, AI in medicine is already considered key infrastructure. He tied this goal to a personal story: his father died of hepatitis C shortly before effective treatments became available. At the same time, Amodei avoids loud slogans like "AI will cure cancer" — in his view, it's the treatment itself that helps, not slogans.

My analysis: This discussion is telling: even such different figures as Musk and Amodei agree on the main point — control over AI remains the key problem of the decade. For the crypto industry, where AI technologies are increasingly integrated into DeFi and analytics, this is a signal: regulation is inevitable, and projects should think about safety and transparency in advance, not just about the speed of adoption.