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A public divide emerged among AI industry leaders over the pace and risks of AI development. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an essay urging the industry to slow model development, a call echoed to varying degrees by other 'AI pioneers,' while Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang publicly aligned himself with a faster, Trump-administration-friendly posture on AI buildout. Anthropic's head of public policy, Sarah Heck, added to the debate, arguing that AI companies cannot be expected to self-regulate on an 'honor code' basis and calling for clearer external guardrails. The safety debate is increasingly being felt in markets: commentary suggested the AI 'safety slowdown' narrative has spooked investors, contributed to delays in AI-related IPOs, and given incumbent players more breathing room, while other Wall Street voices pushed back on Anthropic's warnings, arguing AI spending is set to continue regardless. The split highlights growing tension between safety-focused and growth-focused factions within the industry as investors try to price the risk.