Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an essay on June 10 calling for the federal government to have explicit authority to block, or even reverse, the deployment of AI models deemed too dangerous for public safety.
What Anthropic is actually asking for
The company’s recommendations center on three pillars. First, mandatory independent safety testing for advanced AI systems, specifically those classified as frontier models. Second, a comprehensive federal framework designed to manage what Anthropic calls “catastrophic AI risks.” Third, and perhaps most politically charged, a warning against preempting state-level AI regulations unless Congress passes robust federal legislation first.
That last point is a direct shot across the bow of the Trump administration, which has been pushing for a federal legislative framework that would effectively override state regulations.
The June 10 essay didn’t arrive in a vacuum. Just five days earlier, on June 5, Anthropic released a separate statement urging AI labs to consider verifiable pauses in development. The argument is straightforward: if self-improving AI systems start escalating beyond what society can safely manage, the industry should have mechanisms to pump the brakes.
