OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and SpaceXAI Hit With Antitrust Lawsuit Over Alleged AI Slowdown Pact

OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and SpaceXAI have been hit with a federal antitrust lawsuit accusing the rival artificial intelligence companies of illegally agreeing to slow development of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok in the name of AI safety.

Four paying subscribers filed the proposed class action September 18 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. They claim the companies coordinated how quickly their competing AI products would improve, leaving customers paying the same subscription prices while receiving slower advances.

The case grew out of a September 12 essay from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei calling on leading AI companies to “pace the frontier” as increasingly capable models raise concerns about cybersecurity, loss of control and other risks.

Amodei proposed coordination among frontier developers, independent safety evaluations and broader international cooperation. He argued that an industry-wide approach could give companies more time to strengthen safeguards without leaving one developer at a competitive disadvantage.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Elon Musk, who leads SpaceXAI, publicly expressed support for parts of the proposal that day. Google DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis also responded favorably to greater cooperation around AI safety, according to the complaint.