Sam Altman signals openness to slowing AI development

Sam Altman is reportedly reconsidering his previous opposition to slowing AI development. The shift follows what he described as the first AI security incident he has felt "very viscerally."

Why it matters: Altman has historically pushed back against pause or slowdown proposals, so any change in his position is notable on its own. It lands alongside a separate statement signed by employees across OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, and other labs calling for a slowdown ahead of AI automating AI research itself, suggesting the industry's internal risk calculus may be shifting in response to a concrete incident rather than abstract concern.