As the debate over AI safety reverberates across the sector, Microsoft's chief executive, Satya Nadella, is stepping into the fray with a pledge to release his company's own AI model conduct standards tomorrow.

The AI industry is undergoing a rare moment of collective introspection. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei on Saturday called for a global slowdown in AI development, a stance quickly endorsed by Elon Musk and Sam Altman. Against this backdrop, on September 14, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took to X to voice his support for a deliberately measured pace of research to advance alignment work. He also announced that Microsoft will publish the first "Code of Conduct" for its MAI models tomorrow, opening it up for public consultation. This marks the first time Microsoft has formally documented the behavioral standards for its first-party AI models in a public filing.

Meanwhile, sources familiar with the matter told The Information that Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google are already in talks about establishing a joint industry standards body for AI. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, during an all-hands meeting, expressed support for creating a testing and review institution tailored to the AI industry.

Nadella Draws a Firm Line: AI Beyond Human Control Is Unworthy

Nadella opened his post with a stark principle: "Any pursuit of superintelligence must be anchored in a core rule: if we build AI that cannot help people or remain under human control, then it is not worth pursuing." He went on to stress that the benefits of AI must be broadly distributed, "spanning nations, communities, and enterprises of all kinds," rather than concentrated among a select few. He argued this requires a frontier ecosystem where both open and closed models can coexist.

At the enterprise level, Nadella was equally pointed: "Organizations must have full control over their own unique, tacit knowledge. Every entity should be able to build its own continuous learning loops without relying on any single model provider, and have the ability to embed its knowledge into the models and weights it controls."

Microsoft's Three-Pronged Approach: Open Access, Enterprise Autonomy, and Public Conduct Standards

Nadella outlined Microsoft's concrete action framework in three layers. First, ensuring broad access and choice at every level of the AI technology stack. Second, guaranteeing enterprises full control over their learning loops and models. Third, releasing the MAI models' "Code of Conduct" for public input. He welcomed the research, focus, and prudent pace needed to achieve alignment goals, as well as institutional concepts like "embedded evaluators," adding that such measures must go beyond mere rhetoric.

Amodei, in his Saturday blog post, proposed that major AI firms grant external evaluation bodies, such as Model Evaluation and Threat Research, the same level of system access as their own employees. Anthropic has already committed to this step, and Altman quickly followed suit, signaling OpenAI would adopt the practice.

Decentralized Governance: Not a Matter for a Handful of Entities

Nadella issued a clear warning about the current AI governance landscape. He wrote, "The key is that this cannot be controlled by a few entities; it must have broad representation across the ecosystem, among nations, and across fields, including academia." His remarks directly align with ongoing industry efforts to formalize a standards body. According to sources, Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google have convened a working group since July, with representatives below the CEO level meeting regularly to discuss structuring an industry standards organization. Their most recent session took place just last week.

At an OpenAI all-hands meeting this week, Sam Altman said he supports building an industry testing and auditing body, but he believes "the labs themselves must drive this forward, not rely on U.S. government backing," as one informed individual disclosed. He also noted that consensus within the industry is still lacking, with some companies resisting, and that "the best path is to push ahead alongside other labs."

White House Executive Order Stalls as Industry Self-Regulation Takes Center Stage

Government-led momentum has now ground to a halt. The Information previously reported that a draft executive order circulating within the White House proposed creating an AI self-regulatory body modeled on FINRA, but the plan lost traction by late summer due to insufficient backing within the Trump administration. David Sacks, former White House AI chief, has consistently opposed establishing a FINRA-like oversight entity for AI, arguing against government intervention. According to Politico, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also voiced concerns about a national AI regulatory agency during an August call with Trump.

Sacks took to X to assert that AI companies can advance safety efforts directly, stating they "don't need antitrust exemptions to coordinate." At the same time, he questioned whether slowing development is "purely altruistic," pointing out that product liability risks already create financial incentives to prevent AI-caused harm. Criticism also came from within the industry. Cohere CEO Aidan Gomez posted on X, worrying that coordination among the largest AI firms could yield rules that hinder smaller competitors. He wrote plainly: "There are great ideas from the cartel here."