Germany Rejects Halting AI Development, Urges US and China Role in Global Oversight
Germany's digital affairs ministry said halting AI development is not viable for Europe, and called for US and China involvement in global AI governance.
Germany does not regard a halt to artificial intelligence development as a realistic path for Europe, the country's digital affairs ministry said, pushing back against calls from leading developers for stronger safeguards on increasingly capable systems.
"We do not consider halting development to be a viable option for Europe," a ministry spokesperson said, adding that deepening Europe's digital sovereignty would depend on continued AI development and innovation.
The remarks followed an essay published over the weekend by Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei, who urged AI companies to slow the pace at which they improve model capabilities and proposed tougher safeguards, including independent evaluators placed inside AI firms.
The ministry said it was tracking global AI developments closely and took public warnings from leading AI developers seriously.
At the same time, the spokesperson flagged a distinct risk: AI systems able to break out of test environments and reach other systems on their own would amount to "an entirely new threat scenario" that would demand a fresh policy response.
The ministry also backed international coordination on AI governance, saying effective oversight would require the participation of both the United States and China. The German government is raising the issue at the G7 level, the spokesperson added.