The big AI labs’ safety push could come with a competitive advantage

Some investors, analysts, and industry watchers believe the big AI labs, especially Anthropic, are taking advantage of the current AI safety scare by inviting regulations that only the largest labs can easily comply with. The AI safety concerns are real, but the financial burden of complying with the proposed regulatory solutions would conveniently entrench the big labs, the thinking goes, while putting smaller labs and open-model developers at a serious disadvantage. In this light, the recent safety-related announcements from the big labs, and their executives’ calls for slowing AI model development, can look performative, like AI safety “theater.” “Anthropic and Open AI are really good at flashing something in front of you and making it a big thing, but there’s always a strategy behind it,” says PitchBook senior analyst Harrison Rolfes. Taken to its logical conclusion, critics argue, this kind of “regulatory capture” could reduce the number of tech companies providing the world’s AI to OpenAI, Anthropic, SpaceXAI, Google, Microsoft, and perhaps Mistral in Europe. The “regulator” in this case might not be the federal or state government. Rather, the big labs could agree on a set …