Bernie Sanders, Steve Bannon, and former Anthropic researcher to join forces in AI regulation push

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is teaming up with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon to argue that artificial intelligence “should serve humanity,” after major industry leaders warned humans could lose control of the future to AI. The seemingly unlikely coalition will speak at the Future of Life Institute’s “Pro-Human Assembly” event on Tuesday to back the group’s “Pro-Human AI Declaration,” according to Axios. Other speakers will include Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairman Greg Casar (D-TX), and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, further highlighting how the AI debate has made strange bedfellows of those traditionally on the opposite sides of the political spectrum. “The Oligarchs are finally being forced to admit they’ve lied from the beginning about the dangers of acceleration with zero guardrails — they’ve put the nation and mankind in jeopardy,” Bannon told Axios in a statement. Bannon and Sanders’s joint support is notable as it illustrates how dogmatic populists and nationalists affiliated with the Republican Party are sometimes agreeing with populist-styled socialists, a dynamic highlighted when right-wing influencer Tucker Carlson, who at one time supported Trump, offered a de facto endorsement for Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul el Sayed last week. El Sayed has said he supports reformed capitalism but has outlined policy proposals mimicking and endorsed by leading socialists. El Sayed and Sanders have coalesced on restricting AI, with the Michigan candidate backing the senator’s proposal for the government to control over half of the largest AI companies, put a one-time 50% tax on their stock, and give Washington direct influence over their decision-making.The Tuesday event centers on a platform that calls for pre-development review and independent oversight of AI models, for humans to retain key controls over AI, and for prohibition on the development of superintelligence until major concessions are reached. Sanders recently introduced legislation to ban superintelligence. But notably, several top industry players, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, have suggested that superintelligent AI, or the point of “singularity,” has already been reached. The “pro-human AI” event follows declarations from major technology figures over the weekend that artificial intelligence could be headed down a dangerous trajectory in which humans are no longer able to control it. “We could lose control of the future to AI,” OpenAI’s Altman said Monday. “This is unacceptable; we are unapologetically on Team Humanity, and AI must always serve people. To ensure that, we need ways to ensure that alignment and safety techniques stay ahead of progress in model capabilities.WILL AI DESTROY OR ENHANCE HEALTHCARE? MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS WEIGH INAfter Coxon left his company with a dire warning about AI last week, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei penned an essay conceding major risks in the industry. Amodei called for leaders to “slow down” technological advancements and enact guardrails on development, citing concerns that AI agents could otherwise become “capable of taking over the entire internet with a persistent botnet (potentially causing hundreds of billions of dollars in damage).” “I continue to believe that AI can enormously improve the quality of human life. My desire to achieve these benefits is undimmed,” Amodei wrote. “But the benefits will only be achieved if we build the technology in the right way, and — so long as we use the time we gain well — it is worth taking unusually deliberate care to get it right.”