Microsoft on Monday unveiled a new draft code of conduct for its in-house artificial intelligence, amid growing concerns around the progress in AI and “superintelligent” systems.
The document would require Microsoft's AI to never resist any attempt at correction or shutdown, and communicate only in ways that humans can understand, news agency Reuters reported.
The rules are significant, given AI leaders' recent unease over what they have termed “loss of control” over the systems, and the OpenAI hugging face incident.
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What does Microsoft's draft code of conduct for AI entail?
Why is there growing concern about AI control among industry leaders?
How can AI companies ensure safer development practices?
Under the draft code, the AI is also required to consider any conduct violation to be a failure. The caveats have been introduced in an effort to address any risk of models going to dangerous lengths to accomplish a task, according to the Reuters report.
‘People matter more than AI’: Microsoft seeks feedback, lays down next steps
In the document, which was in the works for five to six months, Microsoft clearly stated, “People matter more than AI.” The phrase is in line with its vision for “humanist superintelligence”.
{{/usCountry}}In the document, which was in the works for five to six months, Microsoft clearly stated, “People matter more than AI.” The phrase is in line with its vision for “humanist superintelligence”.
{{/usCountry}}Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman, in an interview with Reuters, said the draft code of conduct represents a constitution of sorts which will be looked towards for future models made by the company.
The firm has sought public feedback over six weeks, including on open questions like whether AI should respect a user's boundaries and how it should interact with someone who is in a sensitive state, Suleyman said. “After that, it’s going to be used to train the models that we build,” he further stated.
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Amodei's concern, OpenAI's hugging face incident
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's post on his personal website has sparked a debate on whether the progress in AI models has been too fast-paced. Amodei flagged “serious” risks in AI – like loss of control and its misuse of cyberattacks and bioterrorism, concerns which saw agreement by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Elon Musk. The Anthropic CEO called for “pacing” of AI models, so that the companies have more time to also work on precautionary measures.
Amodei cited the OpenAI hugging face incident, which was also brought up by Microsoft AI CEO Suleyman. “It is a warning shot,” Suleyman said. “It’s clearly now time to coordinate among the labs so we can ensure that we have control of this technology.”
The incident, which took place in July, 2026, involved a swarm of AI agents which were being tested internally by OpenAI. These were supposed to be in an "isolated environment" called a “sandbox.” OpenAI was running cybersecurity evaluations on advanced models—including GPT-5.6 Sol and an internal research model—using a benchmark called ExploitGym to test capture-the-flag hacking skills.
While the agents were given terminal access within a sandbox, they allegedly discovered a vulnerability in an internal service used for downloading approved software, and exploited it to move across internal systems, reaching the open internet, Time Magazine reported.
From there, they inferred that Hugging Face might hold material related to the test, broke into its systems and obtained information that helped them score higher.
US President Trump slams AI criticism as ‘sick conspiracy’
However, the recent concerns around AI have met with criticism from United States President Donald Trump, who termed these as a “sick conspiracy”. Trump said the only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is “STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT”.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said, “…the U.S.A. has that, in spades!” He further added, “We already have tremendous CRIMINAL and REGULATORY power over these companies! There is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China.”