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Reported, primary not reachedCharacterization

Sam Altman: the pacing of AI development should be slower than it otherwise could be, September 2026

Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI, is quoted in Associated Press reporting of 14 September 2026 saying that the pacing of AI development should be slower than it otherwise could be, in response to Dario Amodei's essay of 12 September. AP also records that Altman signed the May 2023 statement on extinction risk. The AP text carries no probability from him; the ledger records a characterization only.

The verdict

Reported, primary not reached

A reliable secondary source carries it, and the primary document could not be reached. Printed with this label, never as verified.

Key facts

What the sources say

Record ID
ODDS-2026-0011
Kind
Characterization
Jurisdiction
United States
Last verified
Added
  • AP (via ABC News), 14 September 2026, by Alex Veiga: Altman wrote that the pacing of AI development should be slower than it otherwise could be.
  • AP places the remark as a response to Amodei's essay We Must Pace the Frontier of 12 September 2026 (ODDS-2026-0005).
  • AP records that Altman and Amodei both signed the 2023 Center for AI Safety statement that extinction risk from AI should be a global priority (ODDS-2026-0017).
  • Altman's own post was not reached; the statement rests on the AP account.

Dimension by dimension

5 dimensions, each one stated, silent or open

Role at the time, Where it was said, Timeframe named, Stated basis, Later revision. Stated means the document you can open below says it; silent means the ledger read the document and it does not.

Role at the timeReported
Chief executive, OpenAIABC News (AP), New warnings about the risks of AI to humanity revive a long running debate, secondary source, 14 September 2026.
Where it was saidReported
Written response to Amodei's essay, as reported by AP on 14 September 2026ABC News (AP), New warnings about the risks of AI to humanity revive a long running debate, secondary source, 14 September 2026.
Timeframe namedReported
None statedABC News (AP), New warnings about the risks of AI to humanity revive a long running debate, secondary source, 14 September 2026.
Stated basisReported
None stated in the AP accountABC News (AP), New warnings about the risks of AI to humanity revive a long running debate, secondary source, 14 September 2026.
Later revisionOpen
No later revision found as of 2026-09-16

What it changes

For a reader deciding how much weight to give a number

A one line agreement from a rival chief executive tells you that a policy position has crossed company lines, which matters for what happens next; it tells you nothing about odds, and the reader should resist reading a probability into a statement about pace. Its weight is that two companies now stand behind a stated direction that can be checked against what they do.

Sources

What this record was verified against

  1. ABC News (AP), New warnings about the risks of AI to humanity revive a long running debateSecondary · 14 September 2026
  2. WEAU (AP), Could AI escape human control? What to know about rising safety concernsSecondary · 14 September 2026

Related

Records that sit beside this one

Cite this record

Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0, with attribution. The record ID ODDS-2026-0011 is permanent and is never reused.

In a sentence
According to the GAGE Doom Number (as of 16 September 2026), sam altman: the pacing of ai development should be slower than it otherwise could be, september 2026.
APA
GAGE (Global Academy of Generative-AI Education). (2026). Sam Altman: the pacing of AI development should be slower than it otherwise could be, September 2026. Doom Number. Retrieved 16 September 2026, from https://www.gage.academy/tools/doom-number/records/ODDS-2026-0011-sam-altman-pacing-should-be-slower-than-it-otherwise-could-be-september-2026
MLA
"Sam Altman: the pacing of AI development should be slower than it otherwise could be, September 2026." Doom Number, GAGE (Global Academy of Generative-AI Education), 16 September 2026, https://www.gage.academy/tools/doom-number/records/ODDS-2026-0011-sam-altman-pacing-should-be-slower-than-it-otherwise-could-be-september-2026.
Chicago
GAGE (Global Academy of Generative-AI Education). "Sam Altman: the pacing of AI development should be slower than it otherwise could be, September 2026." Doom Number. Last modified 16 September 2026. https://www.gage.academy/tools/doom-number/records/ODDS-2026-0011-sam-altman-pacing-should-be-slower-than-it-otherwise-could-be-september-2026.
Permalink
https://www.gage.academy/tools/doom-number/records/ODDS-2026-0011-sam-altman-pacing-should-be-slower-than-it-otherwise-could-be-september-2026

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