OpenAI’s global policy chief, Chris Lehane, told reporters that the company has been collaborating with rivals Anthropic and Google DeepMind on AI safety for several weeks, confirming earlier reporting on the coordination. Lehane made the comments while in Washington working with lawmakers on catastrophic AI risks.
The disclosure follows an essay published by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, which called on the industry to collectively slow the pace of frontier AI development to avoid catastrophic outcomes. OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Google’s Demis Hassabis, and Elon Musk all expressed support for Amodei’s proposal, with Altman indicating OpenAI would join Anthropic in embedding third-party evaluators to monitor safety internally.
Lehane said the three companies do not require a government waiver to continue their safety coordination, despite concerns raised by some, including Altman, that such collaboration could risk antitrust scrutiny if seen as suppressing competition. Reports have also indicated the companies are working to establish an industry standards body, an effort Hassabis previously proposed in July as a way to screen advanced models and coordinate industry-wide slowdowns if risks escalated.
Lehane additionally said OpenAI backs a provision in the FRONTIER Act that would require frontier labs to allow independent verification organizations to assess their safety practices. President Trump has dismissed AI safety concerns, warning that slowing development would benefit China.
