AI Safety Market: AI Experts Demand Independent Safety Evaluators for Frontier Models

More than 100 AI experts and evaluators, including prominent figures like Geoffrey Hinton, have signed a public letter urging frontier AI companies like Anthropic and OpenAI to ensure that third-party evaluators have the necessary independence, transparency, and protections to conduct meaningful AI safety assessments. The letter, organized by the AI Evaluator Forum, comes amid heightened scrutiny of AI risks and follows Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's proposal to give evaluators employee-like access to models and development processes. Signatories, including organizations like METR and academics from Stanford and Johns Hopkins, demand that evaluators be shielded from retaliation, have full editorial control, and receive access equivalent to company employees. The initiative aims to establish basic principles for embedded evaluations, though logistical details remain unresolved. The move is part of broader efforts to hold model providers accountable to their pledges for more thorough third-party testing.