Big AI sets out its terms for regulatory capture

Major AI leaders including Dario Amodei (Anthropic), Sam Altman (OpenAI), Elon Musk, and Satya Nadella (Microsoft) have agreed on a regulatory framework called "pacing the frontier" that would slow AI capability improvements and establish safety standards through embedded evaluators and industry coordination. The proposal, framed as a response to AI safety risks, effectively sets terms that the industry itself has designed for government regulation, allowing these companies to avoid external accountability while maintaining competitive advantage. Critics view this as regulatory capture—where the regulated entities shape their own rules.