If AI is going to destroy humanity, Scott Bessent says hyperscalers, not government, must take the fall: ‘We cannot absolve you of responsibility’

In the great debate over AI safety guardrails, Scott Bessent said the government will not become a “liability shield” for hyperscalers.

The Treasury Secretary’s comments come after an eruption of concern over the threat the transformative technology poses. The latest surge in alarm comes after former Anthropic and OpenAI researcher Jacob Coxon claimed tech giants are “gambling with our lives.” Meanwhile, Evan Hubinger, a top safety researcher at Anthropic, warned there was a “low” but maximum 10% chance AI could wipe out humanity within the next decade.

The warnings sparked a debate over the extent to which AI companies can be trusted to self-regulate, and how closely involved governments need to be in implementing guardrails.

Bessent has been firm the creators of the technology will be held responsible for its impact in the first instance, telling CNBC in an interview: “Imagine these labs came out or … a sitting employee came out and said: ‘There’s a 10% chance of an extinction-level event.’ But then the labs also said, ‘Take the liability off of our hands.’ And we will not do that.”

Bessent said it is........

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