China's DeepSeek engineer compares Anthropic controlling most advanced AI to Hitler

A Chinese DeepSeek engineer has compared the prospect of US artificial intelligence lab Anthropic controlling the world's most advanced AI to Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany acquiring nuclear weapons before the Allies.

In a blog post in Chinese, Liu Shengyu, a DeepSeek machine-learning systems engineer for the company's V4.1 model, said he did not trust Anthropic or OpenAI to make frontier AI "open and affordable," contrasting their approach with DeepSeek's open-source models.

The comments come amid renewed warnings from US AI executives and researchers about the pace of development, and the possibility that future systems could operate beyond human control.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called over the weekend for AI development to slow down and undergo closer monitoring. He also proposed placing independent third-party evaluators inside leading AI companies, while saying any response should avoid "sacrificing commercial advantage."

Last week, former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon resigned after accusing leading AI companies of failing to behave responsibly. Anthropic alignment-science lead Evan Hubinger subsequently said he personally believed the risk of AI causing human extinction was greater than 10% within the next decade.

"I believe cutting-edge intelligence should be made available to everyone in an open and affordable manner," Liu said.

But, he added: "I do not trust Anthropic or OpenAI to do this; specifically, I dread the prospect of Anthropic controlling the most advanced AI or AGI. To put it dramatically, the consequences would be no less severe than Hitler acquiring atomic bomb technology before the Allies."

AGI broadly refers to AI systems that match or surpass human-level intelligence.

As AI evolves, he added, upward social mobility becomes "increasingly difficult: you need the most powerful AI to break through class barriers."

Separately, the Dongbuyaqiao Research Institute, an independent Chinese research platform, said Tuesday that Amodei's comments could be "an attempt to gain greater control over industry rules before they are fully established."

On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said "fearmongering, confrontation and vicious competition" would hamper efforts toward sound global AI governance.

A commentary published on Sunday by the state-run Global Times described Amodei's proposals as a "silent AI Cold War," arguing they sought to preserve the US technological lead while excluding China from global AI governance.

US President Donald Trump has rejected calls to slow AI development, arguing that restraining US progress could give China an advantage.