Pauses Could Accelerate the AI Race

A policy pause on cutting‑edge AI development may function less like a temporary halt and more like a reset that lets lagging firms and states learn from frontier actors, increasing the number of capable competitors and worsening safety coordination. That dynamic makes a unilateral or poorly enforced pause likely to increase — not reduce — aggregate risk. — Reframes the AI‑pause debate from a precautionary measure to a strategic risk: pausing can change competitive structure and undermine cooperation, altering the efficacy of regulation.