By 2 min readJune 5, 2026 – 10:24AMAFP
Publication Date: 2026-06-05 00:24:00
Artificial intelligence company Anthropic on Thursday suggested a global pause in building the most powerful AI systems as its latest models show signs they could escape human control.
The San Francisco-based company that makes the Claude family of AI models said in a report that a global slowdown in cutting-edge AI development would “probably be a good thing” – but warned that if just one company quit, rivals would simply move on.
“We believe that it would be good for the world to have the opportunity to slow or temporarily pause the development of cutting-edge AI so that societal structures and direction research can keep pace with the advances of technology,” it said.
A true work pause would mean that several large AI companies in several countries – primarily the US and China – would all simultaneously agree to stop under rules that anyone could actually review, Anthropic said.
“Without a global coordination mechanism, companies and governments must…