RismadarVoice Reporters
September 24, 2026
Meta founder and Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has rejected calls for artificial intelligence companies to work together to slow the pace of AI development.
Zuckerberg made his position known in an interview with NBC News chief technology analyst Joanna Stern, amid growing debate over the potential risks associated with increasingly advanced AI systems.
He said individual AI companies could slow or pause the development of their own products if they identified safety concerns, but argued that an industry-wide agreement was unnecessary.
“I don’t think that we need some industry-wide coordination,” Zuckerberg said.
He added that each AI laboratory should assess potential risks internally and take the time necessary to ensure its systems were being developed safely.
Zuckerberg’s comments followed recent calls from Anthropic Chief Executive Officer Dario Amodei and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman for greater cooperation among AI companies to regulate the pace of development of advanced systems.
Amodei had called for companies to work together to “pace the frontier” of AI development, a position later supported by Altman and other technology leaders.
Zuckerberg, however, argued that commercial incentives would encourage companies to develop safe and useful AI products.
“I happen to think that there’s plenty of commercial incentive to get this right,” he said.
He also said consumers would naturally avoid unsafe products, difficult to use or those that fail to meet their needs.
“If you’re building a product, people aren’t going to want to use it if it doesn’t do what they want,” Zuckerberg said.
The Meta chief used the interview to discuss the company’s AI strategy, wearable technology and privacy, including its autonomous AI assistant, Muse.
According to Zuckerberg, Muse can perform tasks on behalf of users, including booking flights, responding to emails, preparing research briefs and cancelling unused subscriptions.
He said his own Muse agent had also helped him analyse his mixed martial arts training by connecting to cameras monitoring his workout area.
Zuckerberg said Muse operates alongside another AI system, Sentinel, which is designed to monitor and oversee the main agent.
He explained that Sentinel could alert users and seek human approval if it detected that Muse was taking an action beyond its authorised scope.
The Meta CEO acknowledged privacy concerns surrounding AI agents because users can grant them access to sensitive information and services, including email accounts and payment cards.
He maintained that Meta had the security systems necessary to protect users’ information and pointed to WhatsApp’s encrypted messaging system as an example of the company’s approach to privacy and security.
Zuckerberg also rejected predictions that rapidly advancing AI could lead to human extinction within the next few years.
Rather than focusing primarily on such scenarios, he said AI developers should concentrate on ensuring that their systems understand users’ intentions and handle personal information responsibly.
“There’s a lot of rhetoric that is filled with doom,” Zuckerberg said. “I’m quite optimistic about the fact that this is going to be a very positive future for everyone.”
