# Dragoncatcher: Pacing consensus

> Source: <https://www.robinsloan.com/lab/pacing-consensus/>
> Published: 2026-09-06 10:00:00+00:00

# [Pacing consensus](/lab/pacing-consensus/)

It’s striking to see a consensus form in the AI industry, even at its heights, around the need for a research slowdown and deliberate next steps. OpenAI’s [Jakub Pachocki](https://openai.com/index/an-alien-mind/?utm_source=Robin_Sloan_sent_me):

Currently I believe that no lab has solved alignment and monitoring to a sufficient degree to continue responsibly scaling at maximum speed for much longer. I expect and hope for voluntary slowdowns to become commonplace until shared safety bars are established. And I believe that international coordination on future AI development needs to become a top priority for governments around the world.

Oof that last part is going to be a challenge, though. Talk about an issue with absolutely no political red meat whatsoever — 

This is going to be a heavy lift for the technocrats of the world … but if the world ever needed them to lift, it’s now.

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