AI labs face prisoner's dilemma as momentum grows for safety slowdown

America's AI architects are converging on a chilling consensus: The pace of progress may soon demand a slowdown, but no single lab can afford to pull the brake alone. Why it matters: Momentum for an AI pause or pacing mechanism has reached a historic tipping point, ignited by a summer of extraordinary yet unsettling leaps in capabilities. More than 1,200 employees at leading AI companies have signed on to a new petition, "Pacing the Frontier," urging Washington to back an international…