As others have mentioned there are lots of examples from history of businesses claiming their product is dangerous if not properly regulated, but I think what's interesting in this moment is there appear to be a cohort of true believers who genuinely believe we're headed for apocalyptic AI, and a cohort of win-at-all-costs businessmen who are happy to harness the earnest faith of the true believers in service of becoming (even more) unfathomably rich.

> I don’t seem to recall Facebook asking for tighter restrictions on social media.

It has happened multiple times. Like the story now, it's fake of course.

https://www.thestranger.com/tech/as-zuckerberg-calls-for-new...

> Can you think of a single other time in American history where an entire industry was calling to be regulated?

Several: the railroad industry, oil industry and trucking industry have all done this because it directly benefited them.

> I don’t remember Shell telling the federal government that they need to act fast on climate change.

The oil barons actively lobbied for Federal intervention in the 1930s, to limit supply and raise prices. You're thinking recent history, but the oil industry has been around for over a century.

Industry has often asked for regulations that have nothing to do with the claims being made. Zuck was a recent example in the computer industry. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47762091

Here’s the same viewpoint from well outside the HN bubble. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/be-wary-of-industries-...