AI Giants Sued for Allegedly Colluding to Slow AI Development

A new lawsuit alleges OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and SpaceXAI illegally coordinated to slow AI development, potentially reducing subscription value for consumers. Filed Friday in U.S. District Court, the case claims antitrust violations from public agreements on decelerating advancements. The lawsuit centers on Sept. 12 statements, when Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei urged industrywide slowdowns for safety, and OpenAI’s Sam Altman, SpaceXAI’s Elon Musk, and Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis publicly agreed. Four paid subscribers to ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, or Gemini seek class-action status, arguing such coordination harms competition and consumers. The case highlights political divides on AI regulation, with President Trump rejecting slowdown calls as conspiracy and forming an AI task force. Plaintiffs’ lawyers say they support government regulation but oppose private agreements, while some Republicans like Sen. Josh Hawley argue antitrust exemptions could enable collusion and stifle competition