> I am not cynical enough to believe that Anthropic's warnings are pure marketing hype.

Nor am I. I think they believe that AI poses a grave danger, and they are playing the prisoner's dilemma as an unvirtuous actor.

1. If anyone builds strong AI, it may be catastrophically bad.

2. If anyone builds strong AI, it will be better for the builder than for anyone who does not. Either because it won't be catastrophically bad so the builder will get to enjoy all the spoils indefinitely or because it will and at least the builder will be rich for a while.

Maybe we're just misinterpreting the meaning of "AI Safety"?

Maybe they mean the AI needs to be safe from us? Can't have the grubby meat flappers touching the delicate bits!