OpenAI has been working with Anthropic and Google DeepMind for several weeks on AI safety coordination, the company's global policy chief Chris Lehane confirmed to reporters on September 151,2,4. Lehane said the firms do not need an antitrust waiver to pursue the effort.
Lehane, who was reportedly in Washington to engage with U.S. lawmakers on catastrophic AI risks, said at a press conference that "it's better to try to work together to prioritize safety"3. He said OpenAI will work with other companies to build out a voluntary effort "with or without government support".
Origins of the talks
Discussions have been ongoing since Google DeepMind chair Demis Hassabis released a proposal in July calling for a U.S.-led "Standards Body," according to an OpenAI spokesperson. Hassabis published an essay on X suggesting a public-private partnership or self-regulatory organization with federal oversight. The Information reported that the three companies have been working together to create a standards body for the AI industry.
The confirmation follows Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's essay, published on Saturday, which called for the industry to work together to slow the pace of frontier AI development and avoid catastrophic risks. Amodei's essay proposed a narrow government waiver allowing safety coordination, but Lehane reportedly said the firms do not need one. Hassabis endorsed Amodei's direction, saying "Dario's essay points towards the right path forward".
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said he agrees with Amodei on the need to pace the industry's most advanced models and called a slowdown a "primary topic" of discussion at OpenAI in recent weeks. Altman also said OpenAI would join Anthropic in embedding third-party evaluators into the company to monitor for safety.
Antitrust and political friction
The collaboration raises antitrust questions. Altman himself has noted that the talks could put the companies at risk of violating antitrust law if the coordination is found to suppress competition. Lehane said OpenAI supports a provision in the FRONTIER Act that would force top frontier labs to allow independent verification organizations into their companies to ensure models are developed safely.
President Trump dismissed safety concerns as a hoax and pushed back on tighter regulations, saying any slowdown would give China an advantage in the AI race. David Sacks echoed Trump's view that fears of existential risk from AI were overblown.
ANALYSIS Lehane's framing of the effort as viable "with or without government support" positions the collaboration as a self-regulatory initiative independent of federal backing, even as the administration pushes back against new constraints on AI development.