According to sources familiar with the matter, Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google (GOOGL.US) are in discussions to establish an industry-led organization focused on setting standards for AI testing and auditing. These talks began before Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's Saturday call urging AI companies to coordinate on testing and audit practices.

Shortly before that, Amodei and SpaceX and xAI owner Elon Musk had made the rare move of aligning their positions, calling for a slowdown in AI development. Earlier this month, OpenAI's Sam Altman told employees that the startup was willing to slow the advancement of frontier technologies to better understand associated risks, while confirming that the company would not pursue an IPO in 2026 and would prioritize safety-related matters.

Meanwhile, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has also told staff that he supports the creation of such an organization, but believes the major AI labs need to establish it on their own, without support from the U.S. government. Insiders also noted that meetings of the working group involving Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google are still ongoing, with the most recent session held last week.

The working group sessions among the three giants began as early as July, while Amodei's lengthy essay "We Must Pace the Frontier," published on Saturday (September 12), came to public attention only after the consultations had already started. This suggests that the deceleration narrative was not a spur-of-the-moment idea, but rather groundwork being laid in public opinion for the institutionalization process already underway.

Divergent Approaches on Rule-Making

The three companies have not truly reached consensus on who should write the rules, which is why the consultations have dragged on for two months without a final outcome. OpenAI CEO Altman supports establishing the body, but explicitly advocates for the labs to create it independently without government involvement, whereas Amodei's proposal requires the government's presence. Google's Hassabis, for his part, has previously advocated a model similar to FINRA, featuring industry funding with federal oversight.