Anthropic, OpenAI, SpaceXAI and Google Face Antitrust Class Action Over AI Development Pace

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has accepted a class action lawsuit against Anthropic, OpenAI, SpaceXAI and Google, according to a complaint filed September 18. The case, Buist v. Anthropic PBC, No. 3:26-cv-10693, was brought by consumers who subscribe to the companies' AI services, including Florida attorney Charles Buist, Cheyenne Hunt, Nick Spetsas and California resident Christine Bullock, represented by Trial Lawyers for Justice.

The plaintiffs accuse the four companies of illegally coordinating to slow the pace of AI development, in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. The lawsuit stems from an article published September 12 by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who called for "industry-wide coordination" to "set the pace for the AI frontier" and limit "unrestrained progress" so safety assessments and safeguards can catch up. Amodei said slowing down does not mean halting model training or technical progress, but rather advancing capabilities at a more balanced speed while leaving time for safety validation. He proposed third-party evaluators, industry coordination and further international coordination.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman publicly endorsed the idea of controlling the pace of frontier AI development, while SpaceXAI's Elon Musk and Google DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis also expressed support. The plaintiffs argue that public agreement among executives of competing companies constitutes a concerted agreement to coordinate product-improvement speed, and that consumers would receive slower-updating products at the same price if competitors slowed AI iteration. They are seeking class certification, an injunction, and a declaration that the defendants violated federal antitrust law.

Plaintiff attorney Nick Rowley said in a statement that the case seeks to ensure that "self-interested private agreements among the world's most powerful for-profit tech companies" do not allow AI to "rapidly slip out of human control." The plaintiffs said they plan to seek class certification to represent other consumers affected by the alleged slowdown decisions.