Ark’s Wood says global AI leaders’ pledge is positive for technology development

By Scott Murdoch

SYDNEY, Sept 15 (Reuters) – Global technology investor, Ark Investment Management founder Cathie Wood, said on Tuesday the AI leaders’ pledge to slow the technology’s rapid progression was a positive step to help secure and safeguard the industry’s development.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called on AI companies on the weekend to slow the rate at which model capabilities were being advanced, amid rising global concerns the technology is being misused.

He was immediately backed by xAI and Tesla founder Elon Musk and OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman. Global AI stocks slid on Monday as investors weighed the future growth of the industry which had recently helped propel equity markets to record highs. Asian stocks on Tuesday struggled again, as sentiment remained pessimistic towards chip and AI-related stocks. 

Wood, who owns Tesla, SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic across Ark’s public and private funds, said increased scrutiny of the direction of AI growth was positive for the industry.

“Having been in the tech and telecom bubble, which ended in a bust, I’m happy that the leaders of the industry are advertising the risks associated with this new technology,” Wood told reporters in Sydney.

“Half of the solution is understanding the problem.”

Altman said OpenAI would not go public in 2026, amid safety concerns which were raised last week when two researchers from Anthropic said there was a rising risk AI could kill humans before the end of the decade.

“That’s ridiculous,” Wood said, referencing the researchers’ social media posts.

“Yet, it gives us a great opportunity to focus the world on cybersecurity in this space.”

An increasing number of U.S. lawmakers ​are calling for new rules to govern AI systems but President Donald Trump said on Monday the U.S. was already able to regulate and prosecute AI companies.

(Reporting by Scott Murdoch in Sydney; Editing by Stephen Coates)