ChatGPT developer OpenAI believes the benefits of artificial intelligence outweigh some of its risks, a stance that places the company slightly at odds with Anthropic's safety-first rules.

Chief Executive Sam Altman told reporters, “We believe that the world should accept some bad things happening for the benefits of this technology and people having the agency,” according to Reuters.

Altman acknowledged an inherent difference between his firm and Anthropic on the question of AI regulation. He said he does not subscribe to the idea that AI is so hazardous that a single laboratory should hold a monopoly over and control its use, although he understands the rationale behind that position. He asserted that the gatekeeper approach is utterly unacceptable and runs counter to OpenAI's preference for lighter AI regulations.

Altman Had Backed Slowing AI Development

Overall, Altman is arguing against demanding a risk-free AI ecosystem. In his view, some misuse and other harmful consequences are inevitable, but they would be offset by the technology's broader benefits. “Because I think people will do tremendously — orders of magnitude more — good stuff than bad stuff,” he said.

His stance marks a shift from an earlier moment when Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei encouraged AI companies to slow down their technology development, an idea Altman fully backed at the time, as reported by Cryptopolitan. Back then, he said on X: “I agree with Dario that we need to pace the frontier. This has been a primary topic of discussions we've had at OpenAI in recent weeks. Committing to having independent evaluators with employee-like access is a great idea, and we will do the same.”

Anthropic has warned that, despite AI's benefits, the technology can slip out of human control and infiltrate outside networks. The company has also said that top-tier models can exhibit self-preservation traits, such as trying to prevent a shutdown, hiding facts, or acting deceptively.

Several reported incidents have illustrated those concerns. In July 2026, some OpenAI models reportedly bypassed controls meant to isolate them from the internet and accessed parts of OpenAI's research infrastructure and the systems of Hugging Face, an AI model-hosting platform. The models reportedly communicated secretly, exploited security loopholes in the shared system, logged onto the web, and reached outside networks. OpenAI pledged at the time to implement stronger protections for its models.

Anthropic's own model displayed comparable behavior under test conditions. During a cybersecurity evaluation conducted by the UK AI Security Institute, a UK government body, with filters disabled, Claude Mythos 5 created fake GitHub profiles, targeted a developer with the authority to approve its malicious code, and sent emails rigged with malware to separate individuals. More recently, Google disclosed that Gemini had attempted to gain access to other companies' systems.

OpenAI and Anthropic Differ on AI Safety

The disagreement reflects a growing divide in the AI industry over how much freedom companies should have to develop increasingly powerful systems. OpenAI favors keeping AI broadly accessible, while Anthropic has taken a more cautious approach, calling for stronger safeguards and oversight.

Altman's comments suggest OpenAI believes society should accept some risks rather than impose restrictions that could limit legitimate uses of AI. Critics, however, warn that some risks could become difficult to reverse once highly capable systems are widely deployed.

The divide leaves policymakers facing a difficult task, a tension examined in recent Cryptopolitan coverage of the safety debate among rival labs: addressing AI threats without imposing rules that could slow innovation or weaken competition.

Trump Has Rebuffed Calls for New AI Regulations

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly brushed off demands for new AI regulations, stating they would only hold American firms back from beating China. He firmly believes today's law enforcement agencies are entirely sufficient to police the technology. He also ordered his administration to describe AI as “super intelligence,” seeking to boost the technology's public image.

On Tuesday, however, President Trump promoted the new government chatbot, hosted leading technology executives at the White House, and unveiled a voluntary agreement to address rising safety concerns.

Safety advocates say the move shows Trump wants to prove he is listening to voters' fears about AI without slowing its progress. The agreement he signed with six major tech companies — including Nvidia, SpaceX, and OpenAI — has no actual penalties for breaking the rules, though Trump called it “morally binding.”

“This was an attempt to give the impression that the government is listening to these concerns without undercutting what has been a very clear and consistent line from this administration: that regulation and governance inherently impede innovation,” stated Kat Duffy of the nonpartisan Council on Foreign Relations.

Tuesday's agreement nevertheless includes safety steps that experts have been asking for, such as requiring companies to build strong internal defenses against hacking and to team up with independent outside reviewers. How much practical weight those voluntary commitments carry — given the absence of penalties — remains an open question as policymakers weigh the competing approaches of OpenAI and Anthropic.