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Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an open letter urging the AI industry to slow the pace of frontier development, drawing public support from OpenAI's Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and tentatively Google DeepMind's Demis Hassabis. The debate over whether advanced AI poses existential risks has become a major flashpoint in the industry, with commentators like those at TechCrunch's Equity podcast examining the motivations behind the warnings. Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson pushed back, suggesting AI executives are overreacting and warning that any pause could let China overtake the U.S. in the AI race. Former President Obama also weighed in, urging Democrats to develop a clear policy plan on AI safety and economic impact, underscoring how the debate has spilled into mainstream U.S. politics.