Nvidia boss Jensen Huang said at the same conference on Tuesday that AI firms should decide if new versions of the technology should be released - and not be managed by outside forces.

"We don't need new laws or regulations," he said, adding there should not be a "false choice" between the speed of innovation and the safety of AI products.

Nvidia is the biggest company in the world by valuation, with its profits having boomed as a result of rampant demand for its hardware.

Huang also argued safety is an "engineering problem" and companies should "take a pause" if they lose confidence in a product.

The recent claims from inside the industry have intensified scrutiny of AI development, prompting Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei to call for the pace of AI development to slow, external and urge governments to regulate the industry.

The post was applauded by Altman, Google's DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis and Elon Musk.

By Tuesday, however, more AI leaders were voicing support for self-regulation rather than government involvement.

Altman said AI companies were capable of regulating themselves.

"We will get it right," Altman said, adding that if firms could not keep "alignment and safety way ahead of capabilities" they would "slow down or stop".

But Yoshua Bengio, one of the pioneers of modern AI, posted on X, external "ambitious efforts outside the for-profit sector" were needed to "avert the worst risks from AI".

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