Some critics of Big Tech have argued that leading AI companies like Google, Microsoft and Microsoft-funded OpenAI support regulation as a way to lock out upstart challengers who’d have a harder time meeting government requirements.

Emphasis mine.

Why would you? They are CEOs not experts in AI. They are trying to sell you something. Dont fall for it

Studies and surveys like these are important to curtail stifling regulation and general corruption. It shows how the broader community judges the matter. The alternative is to let decision makers only listen to a small group of profit-seekers.

And what about the academics making similar claims? Also Sam Altman and others didn’t just suddenly start believing in AI risk. He’s been talking publicly about it for a decade

I generally don’t either. CEOs are the lead singers; asking them about the technical complexities of how to play a crazy complex drum solo will likely result in a more technical answer than what the caterer would know, but isn’t going to be quality level of response that the drummer could tell you. But everyone treats them like it’s straight from the drummer’s mouth.

CEOs are business folks. Some of them may have started on the tech side, but they aren’t sitting around doing the work all day; they’re learning about the info through meetings or documents, possibly even meetings several layers abstracted from the original source. But we’re bringing THEM into all the conversations about this stuff.

Again, they’re at least better than some random webdev from an unrelated company, but Experts in the field are going to be looking at their statements going “eh…”