Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is proposing, as a last resort, a "soft pause" on industrial-scale computing power to address the potential risks associated with rapidly advancing artificial intelligence (AI). In a blog post published on Jan 5, Buterin suggested that limiting global computing resources by up to 99% for one to two years could provide humanity with crucial time to prepare for the emergence of superintelligent AI systems. He stressed that such measures should only be taken if less restrictive options, like holding AI developers liable for damages, fail. “The goal would be to have the capability to reduce worldwide available compute by ~90-99% for 1-2 years at a critical period, to buy more time for humanity to prepare,” he writes. “The value of 1-2 years should not be overstated: a year of ‘wartime mode’ can easily be worth a hundred years of work under conditions of complacency.” To continue reading this as well as other DeFi and Web3 news, visit us at thedefiant.io
