Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on AI Safety: "Every Lab Has the Incentive to Build Safely"
September 16, 2026 - 7:49 am
A dinner at the White House in September 2025 (Photo: FotoField/Shutterstock.com)
"Every lab has the responsibility and incentive to move at the pace required to train its models safely, and the ability to take its own actions to ensure that happens," said Mark Zuckerberg in a post on X this week.
In response to growing concerns about AI's potential dangers, Zuckerberg acknowledged the need for responsible development while contrasting it with calls for a slowdown. He noted Meta's own efforts, citing their delay in launching Muse due to safety and security concerns.
"Meta delayed shipping Muse for several months to focus on safety and security. We didn’t call for everyone else to do this before we would. We just did it as part of our day-to-day work because it was clearly the right thing for people and for us."
Muse ultimately launched in the US on September 8th, after an initial April postponement. Meta has attributed some reliability issues during internal testing to unforeseen retrieval of personal photos.
While Zuckerberg emphasized Meta's existing safety measures, he stopped short of endorsing Dario Amodei’s call for a coordinated slowdown among AI labs. Sam Altman and Elon Musk have already backed the idea, while Alex Karp from Palantir expressed skepticism, arguing a pause is unrealistic given China's absence.
The White House has also shown little inclination to embrace a slowdown, with President Trump characterizing its advocates as "negative forces" focused on keeping up with China.
Zuckerberg concluded, "I believe the key to building a positive future for everyone is maintaining the right balance of power. This is within our power to do."
The post raises more questions than it answers about how exactly this "right balance" will be achieved and what practical impact a slowdown would have on companies and individuals.