Google, OpenAI and Anthropic are said to be collaborating to establish an independent artificial intelligence (AI) safety body by late 2026 or early 2027, a report from The Information has claimed, adding that they have reached out to former White House AI policy advisor Sriram Krishnan to serve as chief executive. The report says that the planned organisation, provisionally named the Standards Authority for Frontier AI (SAFA), will operate independently of government administration. Its primary mission will be to define practical benchmarks for the three companies’ public safety pledges and provide direct support to developers evaluating cutting-edge models prior to commercial deployment.Citing people familiar with the initiative, the report said that apart from Krishnan, the companies have reached out to Arati Prabhakar, former director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, to take the top post at SAFA. The three technology giants are also weighing whether SAFA should conduct direct model assessments in-house.While the United States Center for AI Standards and Innovation already handles federal evaluation, insiders noted persistent concerns that the government agency lacks adequate technical and financial resources to thoroughly inspect complex frontier systems.
Momentum builds following safety proposals
The push toward a joint authority follows weeks of escalating industry dialogue. About 10 days ago, an OpenAI spokesperson confirmed to CNBC that the company was holding active talks with Google and Anthropic regarding coordinated safety frameworks. These discussions gained momentum following a proposal published on X in July by Sir Demis Hassabis, co-founder of Google DeepMind and Alphabet’s chief scientist. Hassabis argued for a US-backed standards body modeled after a public-private partnership or a self-regulatory watchdog, drawing comparisons to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).While Google, Anthropic, and OpenAI remain locked in a race for commercial dominance, leadership across all three firms has faced mounting scrutiny over potential catastrophic and security risks. The momentum toward collective oversight accelerated earlier this month after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei released an essay calling for an industrywide slowdown in the release of frontier models to allow safety mechanisms to catch up.