Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg warned that artificial intelligence poses risks to humanity and criticized the White House for failing to move quickly on safeguards and government oversight.
Buttigieg Calls for AI Safety Rules
On Sunday, Buttigieg made the remarks while sharing a clip of his NBC News interview on X, arguing that the dangers of AI have become a major issue.
“The dangers of artificial intelligence have become an enormous issue,” Buttigieg wrote.
He said the White House has been “so passive” that even AI companies are asking what it will take for the government to “step up and establish safeguards.”
NBC News reporter asked whether he believes AI poses a threat to humanity. Buttigieg said, “Of course, and so do the people in charge of it.”
He said AI companies have raised concerns about the technology but argued that the White House has the authority to bring industry leaders together to address those risks.
AI Oversight Debate Intensifies
Buttigieg called for rules and oversight, saying it was “nice to see some of the companies now promising to do that voluntarily,” but “it shouldn’t come to that.”
The former transportation secretary compared AI safety with aviation safety, saying the U.S. has experience managing complicated and potentially dangerous technologies through government standards and oversight.
He also criticized Speaker Mike Johnson for saying there is “no rush” and President Donald Trump for telling the industry to “go do whatever you like.”
Growing Calls for AI Safeguards
Johnson called for carefully designed AI guardrails to address potential harms while protecting U.S. innovation, national security and its technological edge over China.
He had urged Congress to act with a “sense of urgency” and bring AI companies and experts together to discuss safety and regulation.
Earlier this month, OpenAI slowed the rollout of its Astra AI model and expanded safety testing after determining that the model could potentially possess “Critical” cybersecurity capabilities. OpenAI later released GPT-6 Astra with additional safeguards, including stronger monitoring and restrictions around its most advanced cyber capabilities. CEO Sam Altman said the company needed more time to address cybersecurity risks before broadly releasing its Astra AI model, while expanding testing and monitoring.
He had argued against restricting advanced AI to a small group but acknowledged the model’s powerful cyber capabilities required stronger safeguards.
In June, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei similarly called for binding AI regulations, mandatory third-party testing and mechanisms to stop or reverse unsafe deployments.
He had warned of risks involving cybersecurity, biological weapons, labor-market disruption, government surveillance and corporate concentration of power.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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