U.S. Political Left and Right Unite in Calling for ‘AI Speed Limits’ [Global AI Briefing]

[Financial News] Two figures from opposite ends of the U.S. political spectrum called for AI regulation on the same stage.
Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon, a former White House adviser in the Trump administration, appeared as speakers at the Pro-Human Assembly, hosted by the U.S. nonprofit Future of Life Institute in Washington, D.C., on the 15th local time. They jointly called for limits on the pace of AI development.
At the event, Senator Sanders said, "AI could surpass human intelligence and escape human control," and announced that he would introduce a bill this month with Representative Greg Kaysa, a Democrat from Texas, to permanently ban the development of “superintelligent” AI.

Senator Sanders pointed out, "Although we call ourselves a democratic country, the public’s views have been virtually absent from the AI revolution that is changing the world." He added, "While the benefits of AI advances are concentrated among a small number of wealthy Big Tech executives, the public is being left out of the AI revolution that is transforming their lives." He argued, "Decisions about AI should be made by the people, not by oligarchs."
He emphasized, "AI is an existential threat to humanity," adding, "When we are racing toward a cliff, we should not merely take our foot off the accelerator; we need to hit the brakes."
In a speech following Senator Sanders, Bannon said, "Senator Sanders did an excellent job summarizing the dangers of AI." He added, "The heads of technology companies have money and power, but they have not earned the public’s trust, and we have no intention of giving them a blank check."

Bannon particularly argued that the first step should be to slow down so that people can understand exactly what is happening. He said that, given the complexity of AI technology, the government should impose limits quickly through executive action rather than having Congress spend too much time drafting related legislation. He also called for cutting off all semiconductor, technology and knowledge exchanges between the United States and China, and even argued that all Chinese nationals working at research institutes should be removed.
Sanders and Bannon have sharply contrasting political orientations. Senator Sanders is a leading figure in the American progressive movement who works alongside the Democratic Party. Bannon, by contrast, is credited with engineering President Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential election and served as chief strategist at the White House during Trump’s first administration.
Nevertheless, attention is focused on whether the cross-party consensus they formed over the threat posed by AI could bring about a shift in the future direction of U.S. AI policy.
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