Steve Bannon and Bernie Sanders demand tighter controls on AI

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In thundering, back-to-back speeches, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Steve Bannon on Tuesday denounced the billionaires who run the country’s largest tech companies and urged Americans to demand tighter restrictions on artificial intelligence before its capabilities exceed human control.

The unusual public appearances by the country’s elder democratic socialist and a leading architect of the MAGA movement at a conference in Washington, D.C., underscored the rising anxiety over the potential destructive power of artificial intelligence. As calls to regulate the technology have grown louder, transcending political allegiances, there is little consensus from Congress or the White House about what a national policy would look like.

“When you are racing towards a cliff,” Sanders said, “you hit the brakes.” He added, “We are at a dangerous and unprecedented moment in world history.”

Bannon called for a presidential executive order to slow down development and ensure the biggest tech firms aren’t able to extend their power through their grip on the AI industry.

Everyone attending the event, the Pro-Human Assembly, seemed in agreement about the threat that AI may someday wipe out humanity. But for a few hours, AI produced a less catastrophic outcome: It united participants — Republican and Democratic politicians, evangelical Christian, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Catholic leaders, artists and others — in agreement that humans, not machines, should control their own destinies.

The conference, which was hosted by the nonprofit Future of Life Institute, drew several hundred people who listened to hours of speeches about the deepening anxiety about the race to rein in AI before its computing power becomes unstoppable.

Such concerns have intensified with surprising speed lately.

Last week, an Anthropic researcher who had previously worked at OpenAI went public with his decision to resign, saying that he believed both companies were acting irresponsibly.

In response, the CEOs of AI startups Anthropic and OpenAI acknowledged their own fears that their technologies are advancing at an alarming pace.

But there is little agreement in Washington about how to mandate a slower, more regulated approach to AI development. The White House and congressional leaders have sent conflicting signals. On Monday, President Donald Trump dismissed calls for safety guardrails on AI, calling fears of the technology a “hoax.”

Anthropic declined to comment, and OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.