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Wednesday, 16 September 2026
AI fears unite political enemies in Washington as Donald Trump resists pressure to act.
Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon spoke at the same "pro-human" event to call for interventions in AI's development. (AFP: Finn Gomez)
In short
Right-wing podcaster Steve Bannon and left-wing US senator Bernie Sanders have spoken at a Washington event on the dangers of AI and the need for regulation.
US President Donald Trump phoned into a separate event to reinforce his opposition to intervening and repeat his claim that AI warnings represented a "hoax".
What's next?
Senator Sanders will introduce a bill that would pause advanced AI development, but similar attempts to legislate have stalled in Congress in recent years.
Political enemies have united in Washington to push for AI regulation, but US President Donald Trump continues to baulk at pressure to put controls on the technology.
Former Trump strategist Steve Bannon and left-wing senator Bernie Sanders joined Democrats, Republicans, advocates and actors at an event calling for urgent action.
"I don't think you could find any two harder partisans than Bernie Sanders on the left and Steve Bannon on the right," said Mr Bannon, who is now a popular MAGA podcaster.
"And I think that speaks to … what the threat is. We have to rise above it. This is a hinge in history."
The "Pro-Human Assembly" event reflects a growing consensus in Washington to act on AI. But chasms of disagreement on the specifics mean there is no clear path forward.
"Congress, under both Democratic and Republican control, have been asleep at the wheel," Senator Sanders told the audience.
"And we now have a president whose ignorance regarding this issue is truly embarrassing."
Calls to press pause, cut off China
Senator Sanders, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, has proposed a range of legislative measures. Next week, he will introduce another bill that would pause the development of advanced AI until a regulatory body is set up.
But his proposals are among scores of bills introduced in recent years that have failed to advance through Congress.
Some White House officials and members of Congress oppose American regulation because they fear it will allow China to get too far ahead of the US.
Mr Bannon called on the Trump administration to cut Chinese access to American AI, including by banning Chinese nationals working in US AI labs.
"We should quarantine, now, every aspect of the ecosystem of artificial intelligence away from the Chinese Communist Party," he said.
"It's the only way you're going to get your hands around it and actually think through, with adults, what should be actually the regulatory apparatus."
'The robots will not be taking over'
But Mr Trump has been resisting calls for action, despite dire warnings from AI executives Dario Amodei (Anthropic), Sam Altman (OpenAI) and Elon Musk (xAI), who say their technology is developing at a dangerous pace and could bring catastrophic consequences.
"I know about AI. I also have common sense about AI," Mr Trump told a separate event via a speakerphone chat with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
"The robots will not be taking over. The AI will not be taking over the rest of the world. The whole thing is a hoax."
Republican congressman Chip Roy said the president was right to doubt the industry's reasons for requesting government intervention.
"When he calls it a hoax, he's saying, 'Wait is this real? What are y'all's motives?''' Mr Roy told reporters at the Pro-Human Assembly.
"Now, is the issue of whether we can lose control of AI, is that in any way a hoax? No, of course not.
"We've all been wondering where this could go, and that's what I think we need to try to address."
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