AI safety staff departures raise worries about pursuit of profit at all costs (www.theguardian.com)

Recent departures of key AI safety researchers from leading firms like OpenAI and Anthropic are raising alarms within the AI/ML community about the prioritization of profit over safety. As companies aggressively pursue short-term revenues, critics argue that this trend leads to the proliferation of risky AI products. The reliance on conversational agents as consumer interfaces, while commercially appealing, raises ethical concerns, especially as advertising may influence responses, potentially manipulating user interactions similar to social media dynamics. The hardware and development of AI systems, crucial for societal functions like education and governance, may also be compromised as financial pressures dominate. Notably, departures such as that of Mrinank Sharma from Anthropic, which was founded on a promise of restraint, highlight that even firms initially committed to safety are struggling to maintain their values amidst commercial demands. These developments echo past crises seen in industries like tobacco and finance, underlining the urgent need for strong state regulation to ensure AI systems operate safely and ethically. However, the hesitance of governments, particularly in the US and UK, to endorse comprehensive regulation, as evidenced by their refusal to sign the International AI Safety Report 2026, underscores a troubling tendency to prioritize industry interests over public safety.