Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has publicly opposed a Republican-led initiative to impose a 10-year moratorium on state-level AI regulation, calling it an excessively blunt approach to a rapidly evolving technology.
In his New York Times opinion piece published Thursday, Amodei wrote that 'AI is advancing too head-spinningly fast' for such a lengthy prohibition. 'I believe that these systems could change the world, fundamentally, within two years; in 10 years, all bets are off,' he warned.
The controversial provision, included in President Donald Trump's comprehensive tax legislation currently moving through Congress, would prevent states from enforcing 'any law or regulation regulating artificial intelligence models, artificial intelligence systems, or automated decision systems' for a decade after enactment. The measure has drawn criticism from a bipartisan group of state attorneys general and lawmakers concerned about losing the ability to protect their citizens.
Rather than blocking state oversight entirely, Amodei proposed requiring frontier AI developers to publicly disclose their testing policies and risk mitigation strategies. He noted that Anthropic, backed by Amazon, already voluntarily releases transparency information about its AI systems, as do competitors OpenAI and Google DeepMind.
However, Amodei cautioned that corporate incentives to maintain this level of transparency might change as AI models become more powerful, potentially necessitating legislative requirements. 'We can hope that all AI companies will join in a commitment to openness and responsible AI development, as some currently do. But we don't rely on hope in other vital sectors, and we shouldn't have to rely on it here, either,' he argued.
The fate of the moratorium remains uncertain as the bill moves to the Senate, where it faces procedural hurdles. Some lawmakers have suggested the provision could be removed or modified to include a shorter timeframe and a framework for federal regulations.