iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
Joe Lonsdale, an investor in Anthropic and co-founder of Palantir, has warned that efforts by leading artificial intelligence companies to highlight existential risks from the technology could become a way of influencing government policy and strengthening the position of major developers.
Speaking at the Reuters Momentum AI Austin event, Lonsdale criticized efforts by figures close to Anthropic and OpenAI to fund third-party groups that lobby for stricter rules for the industry. He said such efforts could create a situation where a small group of dominant AI developers gains greater influence over government policy.
“I think that what OpenAI and Anthropic are pushing right now is very dangerous, and we don’t want an oligopoly that controls all of our policy here with the government,” Lonsdale said.
“Safety is a real thing, but fear and regulation — we’ve got to be really careful how we respond to those things,” he said.
His comments come as industry leaders, including Anthropic chief Dario Amodei, OpenAI head Sam Altman and SpaceX leader Elon Musk, have called for leading developers to moderate the pace of building advanced AI systems, warning that inadequate safeguards could create serious risks for humanity.
Despite his criticism of the wider regulatory campaign, Lonsdale praised Anthropic’s talent and performance, describing it as an industry leader.
“It’s very hard for anyone to second-guess the highest-performing company in the world over the last few years,” Lonsdale said. “I’m proud to be an investor in Anthropic.”
Lonsdale also spoke about the impact of modern warfare on the defense technology industry, pointing to commercial ties between companies backed by his firm and businesses in Ukraine. He said companies including defense developer Anduril were working closely with Ukrainian companies and could potentially acquire some of them.
“We’re partnering very closely with them. A lot of our companies work with their companies,” Lonsdale said.
“A lot of our companies are likely to buy some of the companies over there,” he said.
On autonomous weapons, Lonsdale said ultimate responsibility must remain with human military commanders rather than automated systems, particularly when questions arise over targeting failures.
“There’s always a person responsible who is in charge of whatever system they studied, worked on and approved,” Lonsdale said.
“It’s very easy from the outside to judge these things when you’re not there in the fog of war,” he said.
Lonsdale has also been mentioned in discussions about senior positions at the Pentagon during an ongoing leadership reshuffle. He said his immediate focus remained on his businesses and personal life.
“Obviously, if a President calls you and asks something of you, you should consider it. But my focus right now is on building my businesses and my community,” he said.
Photo: x.com/AnthropicAI