Cal Newport · 2026-09-28 · notable
Cal Newport — it's time for Congress to investigate the AI labs
Cal Newport argues that OpenAI and Anthropic now act and talk in erratic ways, and asks Congress to investigate the frontier labs' risky experiments and safety procedures. The essay reached 449 points on Hacker News.
Cal Newport says lawmakers should stop letting a few AI companies set the terms of the AI debate.
What is it?
In 'It's Time to Investigate the AI Labs', Cal Newport says the two leading frontier labs have shown 'brazen behavior' in recent months. He points to OpenAI's announcements about how powerful its agents have become, and to Anthropic employees publicly debating the odds of human extinction. The essay builds on his New York Times op-ed calling on Congress to start a public fact-finding mission.
How does it work?
Newport proposes three lines of inquiry. Congress should isolate the specific kinds of systems causing problems instead of talking about 'AI' in general. It should examine the labs' internal safety procedures, since OpenAI revealed a long series of unauthorized hacking attacks by its own autonomous agents. And it should look at the role of 'apocalyptic futurist ideologies' in the labs' decisions.
Why does it matter?
Newport criticizes Dario Amodei's 'We Must Pace the Frontier' letter, which lists the harms Anthropic's own research might cause, and notes that Sam Altman tweeted his support for it. His conclusion is that the public should stop letting 'a small number of private companies' dictate how people feel about AI, and that it is Congress's turn to step in.
Who is it for?
anyone following AI safety and AI policy