X discussion: Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman posts "Don't build conscious superintelligence", saying AI development should stop if consciousness emerges in training
Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman published an X article on November 1 titled "Don't build conscious superintelligence", responding to reactions to his September essay on model welfare. He clarified that his line "AIs are not conscious" was deliberately in the present tense: they are not today, and that is how they must remain. If consciousness started to emerge in training, he would call for everyone to stop AI development until those properties could be designed out. He argued that AI developers have no right to bring a new conscious species into the world and that welfare concerns should focus on humans, animals and the natural environment. He also credited Anthropic for publishing its constitution and research, while saying he disagrees with its approach. The post drew about 353 likes, 251 bookmarks and 290K views, with ethicists and practitioners on both sides. This is a personal opinion piece, not a Microsoft product or policy announcement.
Key Takeaways
- Original post: @mustafasuleyman X article, Nov 1, 15:22 UTC, about 353 likes, 56 reposts, 79 replies, 251 bookmarks and 290K views at fetch time
- It responds to reactions to his Sept 16 essay "It's time to talk about model welfare" (about 1,013 likes); his X bio lists CEO of Microsoft AI, author of The Coming Wave, and co-founder of DeepMind and Inflection
- Core claim: "AIs are not conscious" describes today and that is how it must remain; any evidence of AI consciousness should be disclosed publicly at once; if consciousness emerges in training, development should stop
- He credits Anthropic for publishing its constitution and a stream of papers and posts, says he disagrees with its approach, and calls for labs to research this together and share safety information
- In quote posts, UMass Amherst economics and ethics scholar Itai Sher called it "very well put"; UCL professor Tim Colbourn agreed but doubted safety can be engineered by default; others noted there is no accepted theory or test of consciousness
