Anthropic, Google and OpenAI have discussed creating an AI industry standards body, people familiar with the situation told CNN.
The conversations preceded the events of the past week, when a former Anthropic researcher resigned, saying the top AI companies were not “behaving responsibly” – and also before Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei proposed embedding third party watchdogs at AI companies. The Information first reported on the conversations.
According to those familiar with the situation, the catalyst for the discussions was a July essay written by Google DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis, who proposed a US-led Standards Body modeled on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. The standards body, Hassabis argued, should test advanced AI models before deployment. Hassabis said the body should be a public-private partnership, overseen by the government but funded by the industry and staffed by “independent leading technical experts and open-source representatives.”
The conversations are ongoing, one of the people said, and they are continuing with or without the Trump administration. In July, shortly after Hassabis publicized his proposal, Bloomberg reported Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was considering a FINRA-like independent regulatory agency for AI that would report to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
