Hard Fork · Friday, September 18, 2026
The overall sentiment within the AI industry is shifting towards a greater focus on safety, even among those previously considered 'accelerationists.' Researchers who were once solely focused on improving model capabilities are now reportedly becoming spooked by the rapid pace of AI advancement. This change suggests a growing recognition of the potential risks associated with increasingly powerful AI systems.
“And I think the vibe has also shifted inside these companies. Where like until maybe three or four months ago, there were teams at these companies of safety researchers, alignment researchers, who were very worried about the risks. But there were also teams that were not as worried about the risks. They were teams that just worked on improving the capabilities of the models or researching new breakthroughs. Who were sort of like at odds with the safety researchers even in their own company.”
“And what I think we've seen over the past few weeks is that that has shifted. We're now even the people who are sort of the optimists, the accelerationists inside these companies, the people working on capabilities, are getting spooked by how quickly the systems are improving.”