Democrats critical and afraid of AI

Progressives steer Democratic Party toward heavy regulation of AI

Progressive Democrats are jockeying to shape the Democratic Party’s approach to artificial intelligence, pushing for heavy restrictions on the rapidly developing industry.

The hard-left wing of the Democratic Party has been sharply critical of the AI industry’s rapid, largely unregulated growth, warning that the risks of the technology advancing faster than developers can keep pace with could be detrimental to humanity.

Sanders and Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX) introduced legislation this week to ban artificial superintelligence and pause advanced AI development until a regulatory body is established. Superintelligent AI is defined as software considered to be “smarter-than-human.”

The legislation would also establish a new Cabinet-level “Department of Artificial Intelligence” and impose criminal penalties on any person or entity that violates the pauses and guardrails outlined in the bill. Entities could face a “corporate death penalty,” while individuals could face up to 20 years in prison.

Progressive political positions on how to handle the industry contrasts with Republican leadership’s support for the development of AI and pushback on using a heavy hand against the industry.

President Donald Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) will meet with executives of top AI companies at the White House on Tuesday, the Washington Examiner confirmed.

The speaker has warned that placing too many regulations on AI risks hampering the U.S.’s national security and giving China an opening to take the lead in the AI development race.

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