Google DeepMind Just Tightened the Screws on AI Safety
DeepMind just dropped their Frontier Safety Framework 3.0, and itās a clear sign that theyāre not playing around when it comes to managing high-risk AI behavior. This update goes beyond the usual āis it ethical?ā stuff ā it dives into what happens if AI starts acting in ways that resist control or influence humans too strongly. Whatās new: Shutdown resistance tracking ā Theyāre now monitoring if AI tries to avoid being shut off or resists having its instructions changed (yes, thatās a real concern). Persuasive influence tracking ā Watching for signs that a model is having too much influence on peopleās beliefs or decisions ā especially in sensitive areas like finance, health, or politics. Stricter risk levels ā DeepMind refined its āCritical Capability Levelsā (CCLs) to flag serious threats that need governance before launch. Pre-launch safety checks ā Every high-risk system gets reviewed before itās released ā even the internal ones still in research. Why it matters: Weāre moving from āwhat can AI do?ā to āwhat could it unexpectedly do?ā This isnāt just about performance anymore ā itās about keeping things from going sideways as AI gets smarter and weirder. DeepMindās not alone here ā OpenAI, Anthropic, and others are all doubling down on early safety frameworks. Because if we wait until something breaks, itās already too late. Bottom line? Proactive safety beats reactive damage control ā especially with frontier-level AI. So the next question is - do we trust all these AI companies to actually limit what AI can do, and to shut it down rather than see what happens if?. I suspect that the 'money people' will always want to push beyond safety boundaries, to see if there's more Trillions for them, and whoops too late.