Leading developers of artificial intelligence (AI) are raising concerns about the need to ensure the safety and alignment of cutting-edge frontier models as they become more capable.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Microsoft have all signaled a focus on safety issues related to developing frontier AI models to ensure that they’re aligned with serving humanity.

Those calls come amid warnings from AI researchers that there’s a chance that AI could wipe out humanity within the next decade if the pace of advancement reaches the point with more capable models that a self-improving superintelligence gets beyond the control of its developers.

Concerns about AI running amok also come amid intense competition in the AI industry to put forward more capable models, while the federal government grapples with how to regulate the emerging industry without stifling it amid its rapid growth and as it becomes a flashpoint in the geopolitical competition with China.

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Nancy Tengler, CEO and chief investment officer of Laffer Tengler Investments, told FOX Business that “I do think there’s a risk that if regulation is too far-reaching that it will stifle innovation and the up-and-coming OpenAIs or up-and-coming Anthropics. So I would appreciate a light touch if there is regulation, because at this point I’m not even sure we’ve defined what the problem is.”

Tengler added that “I don’t think Congress is going to be able to regulate AI, at least not now. I think it’s beyond their aptitude,” and added that tech companies have called for regulation of their industries in recent history amid public controversies.

“Just look back as recently as a few years ago when Meta was in the crosshairs for censoring and Mark Zuckerberg just kept saying, ‘Please regulate us.’ It’s a tried and true strategy from Silicon Valley to certainly embrace the notion of regulation, and I think part of that is because it doesn’t happen,” she added.

Tengler added that she thinks “there is some risk to innovation that will take place if these companies become bigger and more powerful.”

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Julia Cartwright, senior research fellow in law and economics at the American Institute for Economic Research, told FOX Business that “this is a classic case of regulatory capture by the folks at the top.”

“There has been a history of top companies actually aligning themselves with Washington and trying to…

The gold price kept rising this week, breaking through the US$4,600 per ounce level. Silver was on the move as well, pushing past US$69 per ounce.

A slew of drivers for both precious metals emerged during the period, but what’s attracting the most attention is an announcement from the US Department of the Treasury.

The department, which is led by Secretary Scott Bessent, said on Wednesday (August 19) that it will “at least double” purchases of long-term government debt. The change will go into effect on September 9, and will remain until November 4 of this year.

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The Treasury said the unexpected intervention is designed to “provide greater liquidity support” to long-dated US debt; however, market watchers are interpreting it as concern about long-term yields, which have largely been trending higher since last year.

The move did initially push bond yields down, while prices, which move inversely to yields, increased. But the impact didn’t last — by the next day, those changes had reversed, suggesting investors aren’t convinced that long-term borrowing costs can be tamped down.

Adding fuel to the fire is the news that US debt now stands at over US$40 trillion, double where it was when US President Donald Trump first took office in 2017. Interest payments on the debt are now reportedly on track to become the government’s biggest expense.

This week also brought increased tensions between the US and Iran, with Trump posting on Truth Social that America plans to launch the “most crushing economic operation ever taken against any country.” Few details have been shared at this point.

Taken together, these circumstances have boosted enthusiasm for safe havens like gold and silver and weighed on the broader stock market. They’ve also created questions about the US Federal Reserve’s path forward — experts have drawn parallels between the Treasury’s buyback plan and “Operation Twist,” a similar strategy that was employed by the Fed back in 2011.

The goal of Operation Twist was to reduce long-term interest rates while stabilizing short-term rates. Part of its appeal was that it wasn’t seen as inflationary. This time around it’s a different story, and there are concerns that the Treasury’s actions will boost inflation.

Chair Kevin Warsh has emphasized the Fed’s 2 percent inflation target since taking the helm earlier this year, and minutes from the central bank’s July meeting, released this week, show that many officials believe higher rates may be necessary in the future.

For now, CME Group’s (NASDAQ:CME) FedWatch tool shows rates are expected to stay steady when the Fed meets in September, but more clues are seen coming out of next week’s Jackson Hole event.