Dario Amodei has published a new essay, "We Must Pace the Frontier", arguing the AI industry should slow down, with a three-part plan.

Judged as of 2026-09-12. True: by that date Dario Amodei had published, under his name, an essay arguing that the AI industry should slow down (or pace frontier development), and the essay sets out a plan with three parts. It must also be titled "We Must Pace the Frontier", or near enough. Mostly true: such an essay was published by that date, argues for slowing down and has a three-part plan, but the title differs from "We Must Pace the Frontier" in more than trivial wording, or a similar minor detail is wrong. Mixed: an essay was published by that date and argues for slowing down, but has no identifiable three-part plan (or the reverse: it has the plan but its central argument is not about slowing the industry). Mostly false: by that date he had published only a related piece that does not argue for slowing down, such as an interview, a post or an essay on another topic, or the essay appeared only after 2026-09-12. False: dated evidence, such as his essay archive or Anthropic's publication list, shows that no such essay by him existed as of 2026-09-12, or that the essay attributed to him was written by someone else.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 Dario Amodei — We Must Pace the Frontier darioamodei.com · 5 June 2025 Own record

   “I’m therefore proposing a three-step plan with the goal of pacing the frontier: building AI at a balanced rate that aims to ensure its safety while still achieving its benefits and grappling with important geopolitical dilemmas.”

2. E2 Anthropic boss Dario Amodei calls for AI development to slow down BBC · 12 September 2026

   “In Amodei's essay, called We Must Pace the Frontier and published on Saturday, he proposed a three-point plan that included independent monitoring of AI models as they are developed, industry-wide regulation and global regulation.”

3. E3 Should frontier AI development slow down? Here’s what tech industry leaders say The Indian Express · 14 September 2026

   “Amodei on Saturday, September 12, published an essay titled ‘We Must Pace the Frontier’ in which he argued that AI was advancing too quickly for researchers to continue building it safely.”

4. E4 Pacing The Frontier or Going Round in Circles - Brecher Brecher LLP · 15 September 2026

   “As he announced on Saturday, the essay urges the AI industry worldwide to adopt a three-part plan that would see them all “prioritize caution over speed and prudence over profit””

The BBC (E2) and The Indian Express (E3) independently report that Amodei published an essay titled "We Must Pace the Frontier" on Saturday, 12 September 2026. Both say it argued that AI development should slow down, and E2 adds that it proposed a three-point plan. The essay on his own site (E1) has the same title and proposes "a three-step plan with the goal of pacing the frontier". E4 also describes a three-part plan aimed at caution over speed. The page metadata in E1 gives an earlier date, which conflicts with the independent reports. That does not change the outcome, since either date is on or before 12 September 2026.