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Crunch Time is Now. Drop Everything.
Epistemic status: Hopeful, stressed, terrified, ecstatic.
tl;dr This could be it. For the next few days, do nothing but contact journalists and policymakers (ideally via existing orgs), attend/share/organise protests near you, and use your public profile to speak out.
This is Our Chance
The explosion of interest in AI safety over the last week has been both inspiring and dizzyingly fast. We might actually win this thing.
Events since the Jacob Coxon resignation have blown the Overton window as wide open as it is likely to get. This is the kind of chance we have dreamed of, and we have a responsibility not to waste it. We may not get another.
What You Can Do
This window will not last forever. We need to act over a matter of days, not weeks or months.
This is the time to call in favours, work overtime, and put all your strength of heart and brain into keeping our world safe.
If you work in AI safety, we think the most impactful thing for you to do is to drop everything you are doing and pour your energy into policy and media outreach.
Politicians and journalists want to be able to speak on this issue but are keenly aware of their lack of technical knowledge. Cold-emailing and cold-calling them and offering to brief them has a surprisingly high likelihood of success.
This especially includes conservative ones. We don’t care what your personal politics are, survival is a non-partisan issue.
There are many ways in which people of all skillsets and levels of experience can contribute, but we suggest three key actions:
- Contact journalists and members of congress/parliament, This is best done by volunteering for an existing organisation. We are capacity constrained and need your help. You do not need to be an expert: there are plenty of jobs that need doing.
- PauseAI Global
- People for a Pause
- ControlAI
- Humans in Control
- Humans First
- Evitable
- Any other group you have a line into
- Share and attend protests in your area and invite your friends and family. For instance:
- Speak out: Twitter, Instagram, wherever. Be grounded in facts, but also convey the right mood. Also, we’re in the Overton window - speak accordingly.
We need to put out clear, actionable asks for policymakers to translate this momentum into real solutions. We suggest:
- US - The people really want Donald Trump to negotiate a pause treaty with Xi Jinping and he might get a Nobel Peace Prize if he makes the deal. National security depends on it.
- UK - Andy Burnham needs to announce that the UK will convene a pause treaty summit and thereby protect its citizens and honour its legacy of global influence and world-leading safety talent (e.g. Bletchley Park Summit, UK AISI).
- Elsewhere - Every government can act within their own borders and put pressure on the US government to get on board. We cannot let unaccountable US tech giants put us all at risk.
Good Luck and Godspeed
For the first time in a very long time, we actually think things might go well for humanity. Whether that happens is up to us.
See you on the other side.
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1Momentum is growing, but challenges clearly remain. With Democrats now actively advocating for AI regulation, getting conservatives on board is more important than ever. The Republican party controls the Presidency and both chambers of Congress, so without their buy-in any chance of legislation is dead in the water.
For perspective, here is President Trump on Truth Social today:
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117269745153543631
The only control or “guardrails” that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades! The Trump Administration has stopped AI “people” from doing bad, or potentially bad, “things,“ like Dario (Anthropic!), who is now pretending to be a “perfect little angel” - and we will continue to do so! We already have tremendous CRIMINAL and REGULATORY power over these companies! There is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China. WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS! We are leading China, and all others, and will continue to do so. Conspiracy Theorists, Treasonists, Traitors, and Leakers, BEWARE! Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP
This isn't insurmountable, but it does represent a substantial hurdle that needs to be navigated carefully.
1At this point there's the element of "what's in it for me" that has to be considered. I don't think this is a situation in which logical argument or appeals to the broader good of humanity hold much sway, because that's not the realm in which Trump operates.
To get a deal here someone is likely going to have to give up something, be it capital, prestige, reputation. He needs to see himself as winning, because he already sees himself as having ultimate power over these companies so offers of additional leverage via regulation are unlikely to hold much sway.
Other ideas: Build him a monument, name a new Nobel Prize after him (perhaps "The Donald J Trump Nobel Grand Prize for American AI Superiority"), create a new crypto coin tied (in name) to AI regulation and grant him the majority share to dispense as he sees fit. Perhaps all of these. Potentially more.
I think the real question here is: who is going to pay to get this over the line, and how much are we willing to give up to get it?
However it goes down, I don't see respecting democratic (small d) norms as a major component of a successful solution.
1Update: It may be a matter of hours rather than days. Trump may be being advised to make a national dress announcing some kind of AI pause within the next 72 hours.
https://x.com/DavidShuster/status/2099267628170682796
Update: lol
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