Key facts
- Senator Bernie Sanders and podcaster Steve Bannon will speak at a Washington gathering on Tuesday to call for restrictions on AI systems.
Senator Bernie Sanders and podcaster Steve Bannon, political adversaries, will join forces on Tuesday to call for restrictions on artificial intelligence systems. Their joint appearance highlights growing public concern over AI's potential to harm humans, a sentiment that is transcending traditional political divides.
The unusual alliance between Senator Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon highlights a growing bipartisan concern over the potential risks of artificial intelligence, suggesting that regulatory action on AI could gain traction across the political spectrum, potentially impacting the development and deployment of AI technologies.
Progressive U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and conservative podcaster Steve Bannon, despite their political differences, are set to jointly advocate for restrictions on artificial intelligence systems at a Washington event on Tuesday. Their collaboration underscores a growing public apprehension about the potential dangers posed by AI, a concern that is bridging traditional political divides.
Public alarm regarding AI has intensified following statements from Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon, who resigned last week partly due to the belief among AI developers that the technology could pose an existential threat by the end of the decade. This sentiment was echoed in the market, as AI-related stocks experienced a global decline on Monday after prominent industry figures called for a deceleration in AI development.
Steve Bannon, an ally of President Donald Trump, has been critical of the administration's approach to AI regulation, attributing the lack of oversight to tech companies. On his podcast, Bannon argued that Congress should not impede states from implementing their own AI regulations, stating, “The American people are not going to be supplicants to these tech oligarchs.”
Meanwhile, U.S. senators are reportedly debating a bill that could prevent states from enforcing their own laws concerning certain risks associated with AI models, a move that follows previous failed attempts in the Senate to restrict state-level AI legislation. President Trump, however, downplayed concerns raised by industry leaders over the weekend, asserting that the U.S. already has adequate safeguards for AI technology.
Sanders and Bannon will be joined at the event by AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals. Sanders, along with House progressive Representative Greg Casar, has previously called for a halt to the development of AI tools capable of undermining the U.S. government until a new regulatory agency is established, though specific legislative proposals have not yet been released.