On the opposite side, a16z general partner Martin Casado is one of the people leading the fight against regulating catastrophic AI risk. In a December op-ed on AI policy, Casado argued that we need more reasonable AI policy moving forward, declaring that “AI appears to be tremendously safe.”
“The first wave of dumb AI policy efforts is largely behind us,” said Casado in a December tweet. “Hopefully we can be smarter going forward.”
Calling AI “tremendously safe” and attempts to regulate it “dumb” is something of an oversimplification. For example, Character.AI — a startup a16z has invested in — is currently being sued and investigated over child safety concerns. In one active lawsuit, a 14-year-old Florida boy killed himself after allegedly confiding his suicidal thoughts to a Character.AI chatbot that he had romantic and sexual chats with. This case shows how our society has to prepare for new types of risks around AI that may have sounded ridiculous just a few years ago.