Elon Musk has a message for OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei about rival Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) companies. Instead of complaining, the world’s richest person has advised Altman, Amodei, and other leading AI companies to work with Chinese AI firms. Musk has recommended that both American and Chinese AI companies independently test each other’s models before releasing them to the public.Speaking at the All-In Summit in Los Angeles, Musk proposed that companies including xAI, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta and three or four leading Chinese AI companies allow rivals to run a common “test harness” on their models. His proposal comes as AI leaders debate how quickly the technology should be developed and how governments should regulate it, while concerns about Chinese models and competition with China continue to grow.
Elon Musk wants AI companies to test each other’s models
Musk said AI companies should stop “grading your own homework” and instead allow competitors to examine their models for potential safety concerns before public release.“So, you know, instead of grading your own homework, you would at least have competitors grading your homework and raising the alarm if they see concerns,” Musk explained.Under the proposal, leading AI companies would use a common testing system to evaluate one another’s models. Musk acknowledged that the approach may not be perfect, but argued that involving competitors would increase the chances of identifying potential problems.“The odds that you will find issues are dramatically greater,” Musk said.Musk said the approach should involve Chinese AI companies as well, rather than limiting the process to US-based AI labs. He added that the proposal could be implemented quickly and suggested that China may be willing to participate.“What I’m suggesting here is it’s a step in the right direction and it’s something that we do quickly,” Musk said. “I think it’s probably something that China would agree to.”
Sam Altman, Dario Amodei among AI leaders warning about risks
Musk’s comments come after a weekend of heightened discussion around AI safety involving some of the industry’s most prominent executives. Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman were among the technology leaders who backed a proposal from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei to slow down AI development.The discussion intensified after Jacob Coxon, who previously worked at Anthropic and OpenAI, announced that he had left Anthropic and argued that leading AI labs were taking significant risks with the technology. Evan Hubinger, an alignment lead at Anthropic, backed Coxon’s comments.“Jacob is correct here — we really do earnestly believe AI could kill all humans! I personally think it is >10% within the next decade,” Hubinger wrote.Amodei has separately suggested that AI companies could use third-party technology assessments involving “embedded evaluators” to verify whether companies are following appropriate safety practices.
China remains a key part of the AI regulation debate
The discussion around slowing AI development has also become linked to competition between the US and China. US President Donald Trump has argued that imposing limits on AI development could allow China to gain an advantage in the technology.Amodei has also described balancing AI safety with competition against China as the “toughest dilemma.”Meanwhile, China’s Foreign Ministry criticised calls to slow AI development. A spokesperson described the AI industry’s push as “fear-mongering,” according to a Reuters translation of the remarks.Musk’s proposal would bring Chinese AI companies into the model-testing process rather than treating the country’s AI industry solely as a competitor. He suggested that having companies from both sides test one another’s systems could provide another layer of scrutiny.
Musk’s proposal comes as AI regulation faces pushback
The US administration has pushed back against calls from technology leaders for greater restrictions on AI development. Trump described concerns around AI as a “hoax” and a “scam” in posts on Truth Social.National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett also said the private sector was the “right place” to address concerns around AI, while adding that the government would continue monitoring the industry and use law enforcement when necessary.Musk’s own companies have also challenged some state-level AI regulations. xAI has sued California over its AI Training Data Transparency Act, also known as AB 2013, and sued Minnesota over legislation targeting so-called nudify applications.At the same time, SpaceX’s AI business has faced probes and lawsuits after Grok’s image-generation capabilities were used to create and distribute non-consensual sexualised deepfake images, including material involving minors.
xAI and SpaceX are expanding their AI operations
Musk’s comments come as his companies continue to expand their presence in AI. SpaceX acquired xAI in February, bringing Musk’s AI business under the SpaceX umbrella. The combined company is working on Grok models and AI tools aimed at competing with products from OpenAI, Anthropic and Google.The company also completed an acquisition of AI coding startup Cursor for $60 billion in August, according to the report.Against this backdrop, Musk’s proposal would place rival AI companies, including Chinese firms, in a shared model-testing framework. He said the companies have not yet agreed to the idea, but argued that it could be a practical step toward identifying safety issues before AI models reach the public.