Exclusive: Raimondo charts moderate AI lane, leaves door open to 2028 run
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Universal basic income wouldn't be an antidote to AI-driven job loss, former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo says in an interview shared first with Axios.
Why it matters: Raimondo's remarks come as Democrats try to stake out winning positions on AI heading into the midterms and look ahead to the 2028 presidential race.
- Some Democrats are leaning hard into data center moratoriums and worker protections in the age of AI.
What they're saying: "Cop out. Bad policy. You want social upheaval? Try that. Everybody stays home doing nothing all day and gets paid by the government," Raimondo said of UBI on the Is This Working?! podcast Wednesday.
- "Every politician, even this administration, they say we have to win the AI race. We have to beat China," Raimondo told host Connor Diemand-Yauman. "You know who stays up at night praying that [social upheaval is] our outcome? Xi Jinping."
- "Winning is kicking ass on the technology and innovation, and getting all Americans through it. That's winning. And that's what I'm for."
Raimondo said she thinks AI can make "every human being so much more productive, so much more creative [and] hopefully so much healthier."
- But the short-term outlook isn't as rosy, she said: "I'm nervous about the 2- to 5-year outlook. I'm nervous because I think we're going to start to see a lot of layoffs pretty fast across the economy."
- "The problem isn't AI. The problem is we don't have a plan for transition."
The U.S. should not follow Europe's lead on regulation, she said, arguing that the region "has no great AI companies."
- She called for policies to encourage companies to invest in retraining and redeployment in response to AI.
"I would love the job," Raimondo said when asked about running for president in 2028.
- "How's that for honest? No other freaking politician who's actually running would say that."
- "This election is years away, which in politics is like decades away. And it's just not clear to me that my brand of get shit done, be rational, be normal, be in the middle, be practical is going to work right now," she said.
- "I will do everything in my power to make sure the current president is not reelected, or his vice president elected or whatever. And beyond that, I think you take it a day at a time."
The bottom line: Raimondo is carving out a pro-innovation, anti-UBI lane on AI and testing whether a more moderate position can gain traction among Democrats.
