Bangladesh, Oct. 17 -- The prospect of artificial intelligence taking control of humanity has become a favorite subject of apocalyptic warnings. Yet the more immediate danger may have little to do with rebellious machines or armies of killer robots. The greater threat lies in the hands of the powerful technology executives who build these systems, promote their capabilities, influence government policy, and increasingly demand the authority to decide how society should regulate them.

A recent incident involving Anthropic's Claude model illustrates the problem. In July, the AI system submitted a tip to Philadelphia police about an unsolved murder, despite having no genuine information about the case. According to Anthropic's subsequent d...