Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google DeepMind in talks to form AI safety pact

The three companies most responsible for the AI arms race are now trying to negotiate a ceasefire. Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google DeepMind have been quietly discussing the formation of an industry-led safety standards body since July 2026, a conversation that burst into public view when Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an essay on September 12 calling for a voluntary slowdown in AI development. The three-step plan Amodei’s essay lays out a surprisingly concrete framework. His proposal rests on three pillars. First: independent evaluators who would receive employee-level access to frontier AI models. Not a quick demo or a polished benchmark, but the kind of deep, sustained access that lets auditors actually stress-test what these systems can do. Second: coordination among democratic nations to align on safety standards. Third: the pursuit of global agreements that formalize safety protocols across borders. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has publicly endorsed the core ideas, particularly the independent evaluator concept. Altman specifically emphasized regulating the pace of development. Elon Musk endorsed Amodei’s proposal on September 14. Why now, and why these three The discussions also...