AI NewsAutomattic’s 33-Hour Coup, and can AI labs police themselves?

Automattic’s 33-Hour Coup, and can AI labs police themselves?

2:28 AM IST · September 19, 2026

A week after an Anthropic researcher’s doomsday warning rattled the AI world, the company’s CEO Dario Amodei hasoutlined his plan to “pace the frontier”of AI development. The proposal leans on independent safety evaluators and coordination between AI labs in democratic countries, and it’s already picked up someindustry support, along with some pointedpushback from Nvidia’s Jensen Huang. On this episode of TechCrunch’sEquitypodcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O’Kane dig into whether companies can agree on what slowing down means and who gets to police it. Plus, WordPress parentAutomattic’s boardroom coup, and a couple of the week’s biggest deals. Listen to the full episode to hear more about: Subscribe to Equity onYouTube,Apple Podcasts,Overcast,Spotifyand all the casts. You also can follow Equity onXandThreads, at @EquityPod.