On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) pushed back against President Donald Trump’s dismissal of AI safety concerns.
Schumer, Sanders Push Back On Trump’s AI Stance
Schumer said on X that the U.S. cannot ignore growing concerns surrounding AI. “Even if we did have a high-IQ president right now (and we don’t), it wouldn’t be enough,” he wrote.
“We cannot afford to turn a blind eye to AI. The warning signs have never been clearer,” Schumer said.
The post came after Trump on Truth Social said, “The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades.”
Sanders also rejected Trump’s characterization of AI critics as disloyal. He said scientists, industry leaders, economists and workers are raising legitimate concerns about AI’s impact on jobs, democracy and humanity’s future.
Trump Says AI Critics Could Help China
In his post on social media, Trump also accused critics of creating a “sick conspiracy” against AI and data centers and said China was the only party benefiting from the backlash.
“WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, while saying the U.S. is leading China in the technology race.
Trump made a similar argument during a call with Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang at the All-In Summit in Los Angeles, calling fears about AI and data centers a “hoax” and saying they create wealth for Americans and states.
AI Leaders Warn Against Moving Too Fast
The clash comes after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for the industry to deliberately pace frontier AI development so safety work can keep up with rapidly advancing capabilities.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX) founder Elon Musk have backed elements of Amodei’s proposal.
China’s state-backed Global Times, however, criticized the proposal as an attempt to restrict China’s AI progress and preserve U.S. technological dominance.
“This ‘silent AI Cold War’ is hypocritical and short-sighted,” the editorial read.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo Courtesy: Consolidated News Photos on Shutterstock.com
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