# Guillaume Verdon says AI accelerationists oppose ‘doom’ calls from Anthropic, OpenAI

Digest AI · Policy & Regulation · published 2026-09-21T03:01:00Z

Canonical: https://digestai.news/story/guillaume-verdon-says-ai-accelerationists-oppose-doom-calls-from-anthr

## Summary

Physicist Guillaume Verdon, who founded the Effective Accelerationism movement, argues that the doom‑laden warnings from Anthropic and OpenAI are more dangerous than the AI technology itself. He says the calls for regulation from the two labs, which claim AI could kill humanity, are a “mind virus” that stifles rapid progress. Verdon criticises the proposed third‑party auditors, noting they are friends of the big labs and would form a “cartel with fake checks and balances.”

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently published a paper urging companies to pace the frontier, embed outside evaluators and work with government regulators, while OpenAI has echoed similar concerns. President Trump and senior officials have rejected new guardrails, saying companies can self‑regulate. A Pew Research Center survey of 3,488 adults in June found 52% were more concerned than excited about AI’s growing role. Verdon’s startup Extropic, which builds energy‑efficient chips, announced a nonbinding letter of intent for up to $75 million in Commerce Department funding. Other builders, such as TabulAI founder Bojan Tunguz, acknowledge the need for some pacing but welcome open models as a fallback.

## Key points

- Guillaume Verdon, founder of Effective Accelerationism, argues doom narratives from Anthropic and OpenAI are more dangerous than AI itself.
- Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei urged slowing AI advances, but Verdon says proposed regulators are friends of big labs.
- Extropic announced a nonbinding letter of intent for up to $75 million in Commerce Department funding for energy‑efficient chips.

## Why it matters

The clash highlights how differing philosophies—doom‑driven regulation versus rapid, open development—could shape AI governance, competition, and funding decisions.

## Sources

1. [Silicon Valley’s AI accelerationists fighting back against ‘mind virus’ taking over big labs](https://nypost.com/2026/09/21/tech/silicon-valleys-ai-accelerationists-fighting-back-against-mind-virus-taking-over-big-labs) (nypost.com, 2026-09-21)

Part of the developing story: [Palantir Nvidia Clash With OpenAI Anthropic](https://digestai.news/thread/nvidia-deploys-palantir-foundry-and-cuopt-to-automate-hardware-supply-chain) (4 stories)

## Cite

Digest AI, "Guillaume Verdon says AI accelerationists oppose ‘doom’ calls from Anthropic, OpenAI", 21 September 2026, https://digestai.news/story/guillaume-verdon-says-ai-accelerationists-oppose-doom-calls-from-anthr

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