Silicon Valley leaders including White House AI & Crypto Czar David Sacks and OpenAI Chief Strategy Officer Jason Kwon caused a stir online this week for their comments about groups promoting AI safety. In separate instances, they alleged that certain advocates of AI safety are not as virtuous as they appear, and are either acting in the interest of themselves or billionaire puppet masters behind the scenes.
AI safety groups that spoke with TechCrunch say the allegations from Sacks and OpenAI are Silicon Valley’s latest attempt to intimidate its critics, but certainly not the first. In 2024, some venture capital firms spread rumors that a California AI safety bill, SB 1047, would send startup founders to jail. The Brookings Institution labeled the rumor as one of many “misrepresentations” about the bill, but Governor Gavin Newsom ultimately vetoed it anyway.
Whether or not Sacks and OpenAI intended to intimidate critics, their actions have sufficiently scared several AI safety advocates. Many nonprofit leaders that TechCrunch reached out to in the last week asked to speak on the condition of anonymity to spare their groups from retaliation.
The controversy underscores Silicon Valley’s growing tension between building AI responsibly and building it to be a massive consumer product — a theme my colleagues Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and I unpack on this week’s Equity podcast. We also dive into a new AI safety law passed in California to regulate chatbots, and OpenAI’s approach to erotica in ChatGPT.
On Tuesday, Sacks wrote a post on X alleging that Anthropic — which has raised concerns over AI’s ability to contribute to unemployment, cyberattacks, and catastrophic harms to society — is simply fearmongering to get laws passed that will benefit itself and drown out smaller startups in paperwork. Anthropic was the only major AI lab to endorse California’s Senate Bill 53 (SB 53), a bill that sets safety reporting requirements for large AI companies, which was signed into law last month.
Sacks was responding to a viral essay from Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark about his fears regarding AI. Clark delivered the essay as a speech at the Curve AI safety conference in Berkeley weeks earlier. Sitting in the audience, it certainly felt like a genuine account of a technologist’s reservations about his products, but Sacks didn’t see it that way.
Sacks said Anthropic is running a “sophisticated regulatory capture strategy,” though it’s worth noting that a truly sophisticated strategy probably wouldn’t involve making an enemy out of the federal government. In a follow up post on X, Sacks noted that Anthropic has positioned “itself consistently as a foe of the Trump administration.”
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Also this week, OpenAI’s chief strategy officer, Jason Kwon, wrote a post on X explaining why the company was sending subpoenas to AI safety nonprofits, such as Encode, a nonprofit that advocates for responsible AI policy. (A subpoena is a legal order demanding documents or testimony.) Kwon said that after Elon Musk sued OpenAI — over concerns that the ChatGPT-maker has veered away from its nonprofit mission — OpenAI found it suspicious how several organizations also raised opposition to its restructuring. Encode filed an amicus brief in support of Musk’s lawsuit, and other nonprofits spoke out publicly against OpenAI’s restructuring.
“This raised transparency questions about who was funding them and whether there was any coordination,” said Kwon.
NBC News reported this week that OpenAI sent broad subpoenas to Encode and six other nonprofits that criticized the company, asking for their communications related to two of OpenAI’s biggest opponents, Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. OpenAI also asked Encode for communications related to its support of SB 53.
One prominent AI safety leader told TechCrunch that there’s a growing split between OpenAI’s government affairs team and its research organization. While OpenAI’s safety researchers frequently publish reports disclosing the risks of AI systems, OpenAI’s policy unit lobbied against SB 53, saying it would rather have uniform rules at the federal level.
OpenAI’s head of mission alignment, Joshua Achiam, spoke out about his company sending subpoenas to nonprofits in a post on X this week.
“At what is possibly a risk to my whole career I will say: this doesn’t seem great,” said Achiam.
Brendan Steinhauser, CEO of the AI safety nonprofit Alliance for Secure AI (which has not been subpoenaed by OpenAI), told TechCrunch that OpenAI seems convinced its critics are part of a Musk-led conspiracy. However, he argues this is not the case, and that much of the AI safety community is quite critical of xAI’s safety practices, or lack thereof.
“On OpenAI’s part, this is meant to silence critics, to intimidate them, and to dissuade other nonprofits from doing the same,” said Steinhauser. “For Sacks, I think he’s concerned that [the AI safety] movement is growing and people want to hold these companies accountable.”
Sriram Krishnan, the White House’s senior policy advisor for AI and a former a16z general partner, chimed in on the conversation this week with a social media post of his own, calling AI safety advocates out of touch. He urged AI safety organizations to talk to “people in the real world using, selling, adopting AI in their homes and organizations.”
A recent Pew study found that roughly half of Americans are more concerned than excited about AI, but it’s unclear what worries them exactly. Another recent study went into more detail and found that American voters care more about job losses and deepfakes than catastrophic risks caused by AI, which the AI safety movement is largely focused on.
Addressing these safety concerns could come at the expense of the AI industry’s rapid growth — a trade-off that worries many in Silicon Valley. With AI investment propping up much of America’s economy, the fear of over-regulation is understandable.
But after years of unregulated AI progress, the AI safety movement appears to be gaining real momentum heading into 2026. Silicon Valley’s attempts to fight back against safety-focused groups may be a sign that they’re working.
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![‘My Adventures With Superman’ Creators Talk New Kara/Jimmy Super Ship
The second season of Adult Swim’s My Adventures With Superman introduced Supergirl, and it didn’t take long for her to become a fan-favorite. Starting off as a soldier and the adoptive daughter of Brainiac before joining her cousin to defend Earth, Kara’s back for season three—and much like Clark and their friends, she’s got some stuff to figure out. Kara’s arc this season is about her settling into becoming Metropolis’ newest protector and sorting out where she and Jimmy stand. Last season made it clear there were sparks on both sides, but in classic romantic tension fashion, neither have revealed their feelings in full. Jimmy thinks Kara should at least become more adjusted to Earth, which she plans to do…by going on dates with other people. This week’s episode, “All’s Fair in Love and W.O.R.M.S.,” sees Kara consult Lois for help with her many matches on dating apps. Meanwhile, Jimmy goes on a date in the hopes of making his Kryptonian friend jealous, with a slight problem: his date, Doris, is actually “Gigi,” aka Giganta, the popular Wonder Woman villain. And in a very Jimmy situation, she’s both into him and wants to run a few experiments on him, including turning him into a wolf.
Before the season’s premiere, io9 talked with co-showrunners Jake Wyatt and Brendan Clogher about the show’s other love story. While Kara and Jimmy get paired up every once in a while in comics or other media, Wyatt noted they’re not a “near-sacred pop culture thing” like Clark and Lois. As such, My Adventures With Superman is free to put its younger duo through more stress and modern dating troubles. But it’s not just a matter of testing Kara and Jimmy with one obstacle after another.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbfUC3-qU8s[/embed] Every relationship faces trials that can often make one half—or even both halves—look bad. Putting Kara and Jimmy in various situations on the path to love is part of the show’s DNA, but he and Wyatt said there’s a limit to what can be done without betraying who these characters are. “It’s a tightrope to keep audience credibility with these two and keep them likable,” Clogher acknowledged. “Supergirl is Supergirl, but we can bend the rules a bit more with Jimmy. He’s emotionally intelligent, but it’s easier to like him when he’s being bad.” “Jimmy’s off being goofus so Kara can be gallant,” added Wyatt. “If Clark and Lois are the romcom, these two are romantic chaos.” The popular manga and anime Ranma 1/2 was cited as a source for the latter term, and it definitely applies. With Jimmy’s love life taking center stage this season, the team knew they wanted him to have an arc of dating mad-scientists, which would let them turn him into animals as he had in the comics. While doing story revisions on “W.O.R.M.S.,” they realized the episode needed a bigger set piece for the third act—a “King Kong moment,” if you will—but the initial villain they had couldn’t really lead to that escalation.
So Giganta was added, allowing for a scene where she changes her size and kidnaps Jimmy before climbing a skyscraper with plans to make him just like her. Wyatt said DC “played ball really well” when it came to including her, and has generally been a good partner in that regard, including getting the Whip in last week’s episode. “Some of [our villains] are about DC notes,” he explained. “Other times, it was with DC assistance.” We won’t spoil Jimmy’s next date, but know that the character was also done with some DC advice, and they’re even more ridiculous than Giganta—and more trying on Kara. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCq12i5r3Ug[/embed] Speaking of her, io9 asked if there were any plans to put Kara in some romantic hijinks of her own outside of Jimmy’s orbit. The pair admitted that yes, the team had episode ideas where she’d go on dates, from Steve Lombard to some supervillains. “Those [villain dates] would’ve ended in swift and violent justice,” said Wyatt, which sounds like a riot. Unfortunately, these ideas were some of many in the season to be cut, so the team opted to give Kara a more serious arc of coming into her own as a hero. That journey, part of which involves her little fangirl Jessica Cruz, will play out as My Adventures With Superman continues with new episodes this summer. But if the show comes back for season four, maybe then we’ll see the Woman of Tomorrow make some bad romantic choices. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #Adventures #Superman #Creators #Talk #KaraJimmy #Super #ShipJimmy Olsen,My Adventures with Superman,Supergirl,Superman ‘My Adventures With Superman’ Creators Talk New Kara/Jimmy Super Ship
The second season of Adult Swim’s My Adventures With Superman introduced Supergirl, and it didn’t take long for her to become a fan-favorite. Starting off as a soldier and the adoptive daughter of Brainiac before joining her cousin to defend Earth, Kara’s back for season three—and much like Clark and their friends, she’s got some stuff to figure out. Kara’s arc this season is about her settling into becoming Metropolis’ newest protector and sorting out where she and Jimmy stand. Last season made it clear there were sparks on both sides, but in classic romantic tension fashion, neither have revealed their feelings in full. Jimmy thinks Kara should at least become more adjusted to Earth, which she plans to do…by going on dates with other people. This week’s episode, “All’s Fair in Love and W.O.R.M.S.,” sees Kara consult Lois for help with her many matches on dating apps. Meanwhile, Jimmy goes on a date in the hopes of making his Kryptonian friend jealous, with a slight problem: his date, Doris, is actually “Gigi,” aka Giganta, the popular Wonder Woman villain. And in a very Jimmy situation, she’s both into him and wants to run a few experiments on him, including turning him into a wolf.
Before the season’s premiere, io9 talked with co-showrunners Jake Wyatt and Brendan Clogher about the show’s other love story. While Kara and Jimmy get paired up every once in a while in comics or other media, Wyatt noted they’re not a “near-sacred pop culture thing” like Clark and Lois. As such, My Adventures With Superman is free to put its younger duo through more stress and modern dating troubles. But it’s not just a matter of testing Kara and Jimmy with one obstacle after another.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbfUC3-qU8s[/embed] Every relationship faces trials that can often make one half—or even both halves—look bad. Putting Kara and Jimmy in various situations on the path to love is part of the show’s DNA, but he and Wyatt said there’s a limit to what can be done without betraying who these characters are. “It’s a tightrope to keep audience credibility with these two and keep them likable,” Clogher acknowledged. “Supergirl is Supergirl, but we can bend the rules a bit more with Jimmy. He’s emotionally intelligent, but it’s easier to like him when he’s being bad.” “Jimmy’s off being goofus so Kara can be gallant,” added Wyatt. “If Clark and Lois are the romcom, these two are romantic chaos.” The popular manga and anime Ranma 1/2 was cited as a source for the latter term, and it definitely applies. With Jimmy’s love life taking center stage this season, the team knew they wanted him to have an arc of dating mad-scientists, which would let them turn him into animals as he had in the comics. While doing story revisions on “W.O.R.M.S.,” they realized the episode needed a bigger set piece for the third act—a “King Kong moment,” if you will—but the initial villain they had couldn’t really lead to that escalation.
So Giganta was added, allowing for a scene where she changes her size and kidnaps Jimmy before climbing a skyscraper with plans to make him just like her. Wyatt said DC “played ball really well” when it came to including her, and has generally been a good partner in that regard, including getting the Whip in last week’s episode. “Some of [our villains] are about DC notes,” he explained. “Other times, it was with DC assistance.” We won’t spoil Jimmy’s next date, but know that the character was also done with some DC advice, and they’re even more ridiculous than Giganta—and more trying on Kara. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCq12i5r3Ug[/embed] Speaking of her, io9 asked if there were any plans to put Kara in some romantic hijinks of her own outside of Jimmy’s orbit. The pair admitted that yes, the team had episode ideas where she’d go on dates, from Steve Lombard to some supervillains. “Those [villain dates] would’ve ended in swift and violent justice,” said Wyatt, which sounds like a riot. Unfortunately, these ideas were some of many in the season to be cut, so the team opted to give Kara a more serious arc of coming into her own as a hero. That journey, part of which involves her little fangirl Jessica Cruz, will play out as My Adventures With Superman continues with new episodes this summer. But if the show comes back for season four, maybe then we’ll see the Woman of Tomorrow make some bad romantic choices. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who. #Adventures #Superman #Creators #Talk #KaraJimmy #Super #ShipJimmy Olsen,My Adventures with Superman,Supergirl,Superman](https://gizmodo.com/app/uploads/2025/09/io9-2025-spoiler.png)
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