Dems grapple with how to pace the AI race
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The left's push to rein in AI is taking shape on two fronts: slowing advanced development at home, and weakening China's progress abroad.
Why it matters: The nation is locked in a moment of mass anxiety about runaway AI, but the range of views on how to regulate it are as varied as the what-ifs about social, economic and security impacts.
- There's agreement among the left something has to be done, but a series of Wednesday events demonstrated there are multiple priorities — but not a clear leading voice — on AI.
Driving the news: Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and fellow progressive Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) introduced legislation Wednesday to ban superintelligence and pause advanced development until a new, Cabinet-level Department of Artificial Intelligence sets guardrails.
- "I understand that I may be called an alarmist for introducing this bill," Sanders said in a Wednesday call with reporters, "but I'd rather be called an alarmist than a father and grandfather who is asleep at the wheel."
- Casar emphasized that "we cannot wait for an international agreement to pause dangerous development in the United States. China trains their models off of American models, so stopping dangerous AI development in America will slow down dangerous advancements in China."
Zoom out: Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) took up another regulatory approach Wednesday, focused on restricting foreign AI capabilities.
- "President Trump must draw a hard line. Do not weaken America's export controls. Do not give China greater access to the advanced chips and chip-making equipment it needs to close the gap," Schumer said in a plea to move forward on related bipartisan legislation.
- Schumer argued that calls to pause AI research and the focus on winning the AI race "are not at all contradictory."
Casar said the goal of his and Sanders' legislation is to "stop the race towards disaster."
- Sanders has been forceful in calls for immediate congressional action, saying Wednesday that "we cannot simply sit by idly and wait for advanced AI to cause the next 9/11 or Chernobyl."
Between the lines: Even within the progressive camp, there's not complete cohesion on the specifics of confronting the AI buildout, Axios' Maria Curi writes.
- Warren has backed a pause on advanced artificial intelligence, but she's stopped short of endorsing a ban on superintelligence, like Sanders.
Possible 2028 contenders diverge as well, with several stopping short of echoing Sanders' call to pause development. Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel previously told Axios that "a pause is fine — but then what?"
- Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), another member of the party's progressive wing who has called to ban self-improving AI, is also set to convene a virtual hearing Wednesday calling for a U.S.-China agreement to pace AI development — yet another potential regulatory approach.
State of play: The three proposals come as Trump is set to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, with AI a likely focus of the talks as the rival nations discuss ways to manage shared risks, per Axios' Courtenay Brown.
- Trump has insisted the U.S. must keep an edge over China, warning that "whoever wins" the AI race "wins."
The bottom line: Which idea (or ideas) Democrats in Congress champion could become a key issue for the November midterms.
Go deeper: AI boom can withstand a development slowdown
