Automattic's 33-Hour Coup, and can AI labs police themselves?

Automattic’s 33-Hour Coup, and can AI labs police themselves? Anthony Ha , Theresa Loconsolo , Kirsten Korosec , Sean O'Kane Sep 18, 2026 Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify A week after an Anthropic researcher’s doomsday warning rattled the AI world, the company’s CEO Dario Amodei has outlined his plan to “pace the frontier” of AI development. The proposal leans on independent safety evaluators and coordination between AI labs in democratic countries, and it’s already picked up some industry support , along with some pointed pushback from Nvidia’s Jensen Huang . On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O’Kane dig into whether companies can agree on what slowing down means and who gets to police it. Plus, WordPress parent Automattic’s boardroom coup , and a couple of the week’s biggest deals. Listen to the full episode to hear more about: The golden parachute deals struck during Matt Mullenweg’s 33-hour ouster from Automattic, and why the drama could give him even more control over technology that powers much of the web Whether May Mobility’s SPAC can deliver more than $300 million in potential funding, and why becoming a “public robotaxi company” comes with some big caveats DoorDash’s $425 million investment in Wonder and the race to automate food from order to delivery Subscribe to Equity on YouTube , Apple Podcasts , Overcast , Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads , at @EquityPod.