Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently suggested establishing METR, a technical watchdog to conduct safety audits on AI firms. The proposal has sparked controversy due to METR's perceived lack of independence from Anthropic and the Effective Altruism movement.
Dario Amodei's 'We Must Pace the Frontier' Vision
In a recently published essay titled We Must Pace the Frontier, Dario Amodei argues for the creation of METR, an organization designed to perform rigorous, real-time safety audits.. According to the report, Amodei envisions METR staff possessing deep technical expertise and access levels similar to those of internal employees. This would allow the watchdog to scrutinize model training pipelines, safety protocols, and data sets as they are developped.
The proposal suggests that METR would maintain a high level of transparency, releasing its findings to the general public to ensure accountability across the AI industry. Dario Amodei has already begun soliciting support for this initiative from various policy figures and investors, framing it as a necessary step to manage the risks of frontier AI models.
The ARC Spin-off and the Oxford Research Circle
Despite the promise of neutrality, METR's origins suggest a tight-knit ecosystem. The organization is a spin-off from the Alignment Research Center (ARC), a hub founded by Paul Christiano. As the report notes, Paul Christiano previously served as a cross-company researcher for several firms, including OpenAI and Anthropic, and later became a trustee of Anthropic's Long-Term Benefit Trust.
This connection extends to the personnel leading the proposed watchdog. The senior staff and founders of METR—including Beth Barnes, Hjalmar Wijk, Megan Kinniment, and Pip Arnott—all maintain professional ties to either the Alignment Research Center or the Oxford research circle. This circle is a primary feeder for the Effective Altruism movement , creating a network of shared ideologies and professional histories that critics argue precludes true independence.
Jaan Tallinn and Dustin Moskovitz's Financial Overlap
The financial backing of METR further complicates its claim to be a neutral third party. Key funders of the organization include Jaan Tallinn and Dustin Moskovitz , both of whom are prominent donors within the Effective Altruism ecosystem. In the case of Dustin Moskovitz, the report highlights that he has also provided significant funding to the Alignment Research Center itself.
While Dario Amodei emphasizes that METR does not accept direct funding from AI laboratories or their employees, the indirect links are stark . Because the donors and staff have historically worked in tandem with Anthropic, observers suggest that the watchdog may be predisposed to favor the perspectives and methodologies of the firms it is meant to oversee.
Perry Metzger's 'Joke' and the Regulatory Hurdle
The reaction from outside observers has been sharply critical. Perry Metzger,chairman of the Alliance for the Future, labeled the METR proposal a "joke," arguing that an audit body staffed and funded by the same network that invests in the audited firms cannot satisfy regulatory standards. Similarly, David Sacks warned on his platform that METR is too deeply intertwined with Anthropic's own staff and investors to be credible.
White House officials have also weighed in, describing METR as an extension of Anthropic rather than a separate entity. This raises a critical open question: will government regulators accept a self-proposed, industry-linked auditor, or will they demand a truly separate mechanism? Furthermore, it remains unclear if other leading AI firms would willingly grant METR the same "employee-level" access that Dario Amodei proposes, given the perceived bias toward Anthropic.
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