At the Pro-Human Assembly in Washington on Tuesday, Senator Bernie Sanders and former Trump strategist Steve Bannon both made the case for tighter AI regulation, though they differed on how to achieve it. The Future of Life Institute organised the event, which drew several hundred attendees. A day later, Senator Elizabeth Warren added her voice to the growing chorus demanding a halt to advanced AI development.

When you are racing towards a cliff, you hit the brakes

Senator Bernie Sanders, at the Pro-Human Assembly in Washington on Tuesday

Sanders pushes for international agreement

The Vermont independent warned that artificial intelligence could eliminate tens of millions of jobs and destroy entire career paths, making it harder for young people to find work. He criticised Congress for being inattentive to the issue under administrations of both parties. Sanders called on Trump to use an upcoming summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping to negotiate a treaty that would pause advanced AI development and prohibit superintelligence.

Earlier this month, Sanders and Representative Greg Casar, a Texas Democrat, introduced legislation with identical goals. Sanders also convened a Senate briefing on AI risks last week.

Bannon advocates for executive orders

Bannon, who served as a White House strategist during Trump's first term, argued that legislative action would move too slowly. He insisted that the administration must act unilaterally. "This is going to have to be executive action," he said. Bannon also advocated for preventing China from accessing American-manufactured semiconductors.

On his podcast Monday, Bannon opposed federal laws that would restrict states from implementing their own AI regulations.

American citizens are not going to be supplicants to the oligarchs anymore

Steve Bannon, according to The New York Times

When discussing his disagreement with Sanders, Bannon added: "We have to rise above it. This is a hinge in history."

Diverse voices at the Assembly

The gathering brought together lawmakers from both parties, religious leaders and artists. Casar called for banning AI systems that exceed human control. Representative Lori Trahan, a Massachusetts Democrat, declared: "The future we all want is human. It's nonnegotiable." Representative Chip Roy, a Texas Republican, highlighted constituents' concerns about data centres being built in their areas without their input.

Salvatore Cordileone, the Catholic archbishop of San Francisco, told attendees: "We have to be the masters of A.I." Actor Ashley Judd, who serves as chief negotiator for the union SAG-AFTRA, also addressed the crowd. Parents whose teenagers died after forming relationships with chatbots spoke about the need for child protection measures.

Coalition launches with ambitious agenda

The Pro-Human AI Coalition was unveiled at the Assembly, bringing together more than 50 organisations. Project Liberty, the Future of Life Institute and Ergo Impact established the nonprofit, with Mila and Omidyar Network serving on its steering committee.

According to a statement from Project Liberty, coalition members have already passed AI legislation in Utah, California, Ohio, Connecticut and South Dakota. The group is developing policy recommendations for the Geneva AI Summit scheduled for June 2027.

Humanity deserves a say in who owns it, who governs it, and who benefits from it

Frank McCourt, Project Liberty founder

White House and Congress push back

On Monday, Trump dismissed concerns about AI safety as a "hoax" on Truth Social, asserting that existing safeguards are sufficient. House Speaker Mike Johnson rejected the idea of an AI moratorium on Tuesday, warning that such a move would give China a competitive advantage. "They can self-regulate. They don't need the government to tell them to slow it down," Johnson told reporters.

Vice President Kamala Harris has called for establishing an AI regulator and negotiating a treaty with China. Three AI bills currently sit in Congress without scheduled votes.

Warren calls for immediate pause

On Wednesday, Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, endorsed a pause on advanced AI development ahead of a roundtable Sanders was hosting. "We should immediately press pause on the development of advanced AI while lawmakers and regulators put systems in place to keep people safe," Warren said.

Unlike Sanders, Warren did not advocate for banning superintelligence outright. She criticised the industry's "pace the frontier" approach as inadequate and dismissed calls to weaken antitrust enforcement to address AI risks as "transparently self-serving." Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has previously requested an antitrust exemption to enable laboratories to coordinate a slowdown.

Source: The Next Web