September 23, 2026, 6:33 am | Read time: 2 minutes
The pace at which artificial intelligence is developing is supposed to be slowed down after several AI incidents–but users are still expected to pay the same price for their AI subscriptions. Now, a class-action lawsuit is starting in the U.S. The plaintiffs are citing Section 1 of the U.S. Sherman Act, which prohibits anti-competitive agreements between companies.
AI Competitors Suddenly in Agreement
For many people, the development of artificial intelligence has recently been too rapid. But now, ironically, the attempt to slow down the pace is causing trouble. U.S. users accuse OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and xAI of agreeing to slow down the development of their AI systems. The trigger was public statements by several AI company leaders on September 12, 2026.
On that day, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei advocated slowing the development of particularly powerful AI systems in favor of additional safety measures. Shortly thereafter, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, xAI founder Elon Musk, and Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis publicly supported his stance. The plaintiffs see this as a potential violation of antitrust law. Individual safety decisions by companies are allowed–joint agreements to curb competition are not.
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Less Progress, Same Price
According to the plaintiffs, a uniform slowdown in AI development would primarily affect paying users. Those who pay for services like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, or Grok would still have to pay the same amount but would likely wait longer for new features and technical improvements.
The plaintiffs argue that customers would receive less value for their money than in a market where companies compete without restrictions. At the same time, they criticize that a few tech companies would gain significant influence over how quickly one of the most important future technologies develops. Four U.S. citizens, therefore, want to take action against the companies on behalf of a larger group of paying users.
Trump Takes a Stand
U.S. President Donald Trump has also weighed in on the debate. On the platform Truth Social, he spoke out clearly against slowing down AI development. He called demands for a joint slowdown a “sick conspiracy” against artificial intelligence. Whether the accused companies actually made an illegal agreement or merely expressed similar safety concerns will now have to be determined by a court.