Elon Musk and Over 1,100 Others Say AI Race Is ‘Dangerous,’ Call for Pause

The letter drew a rebuttal from the Center for Data Innovation, an industry group backed by Cisco Systems Inc., eBay Inc. and Google. It warned against the U.S. "hitting pause on the technology, and allowing China to gain an advantage."

Signers of the letter Musk signed include Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, 2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang, Stability AI founder Emad Mostaque, engineers from Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google, along with some who aren't from the technology industry.

They say that AI labs in recent months have been "locked in an out-of-control race to develop and deploy ever more powerful digital minds that no one — not even their creators — can understand, predict, or reliably control."

Daniel Castro, director of the Center for Data Innovation, however, said that "fears about out-of-control AI are not new, but today’s letter shows that fears about AI are out of control." He said that Musk and the people who signed the letter have no evidence to back up claims that AI presents an unprecedented existential risk.