AI bosses believe machine intelligence will soon surpass human intelligence, but accelerating development without safety safeguards may ultimately slow progress. Former employees of Anthropic, Open AI and Google Deep Mind warn these companies do not take safety seriously enough. Donald Trump has dismissed the need for regulation, declaring that a "strong and smart" president is the only control mechanism required. But 60 per cent of Americans now support AI regulation, according to a poll by the Special Competitive Studies Project and Gallup, while only 7 per cent prioritize speed over safety.

AI safety campaigners point to the US nuclear industry's collapse after the Three Mile Island accident in 1979 as a cautionary tale. Any AI-induced disaster could trigger a regulatory overreaction that halts future progress, jeopardizing the technology accelerationists champion.

Accelerationists argue leading companies secretly want regulation to entrench incumbents, and that the US must win the AI race with China. But as analyst Dan Wang notes, Beijing may be content letting the US court disaster on frontier AI while China applies lessons more widely. Former researcher Andrew Strait calls current AI development "incredibly reckless, negligent and dangerous." Bill Gates argues the next 12 to 18 months of design choices will be critical, with his foundation spending $1bn to promote beneficial AI initiatives.