Former President Barack Obama told Democratic fundraisers on Thursday that the party must make artificial intelligence a central agenda item and present a very clear plan to handle the technology’s economic impact and safety risks. He made the remarks during an interview with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries at a fundraising event.
Obama’s call for a public framework
The White House provided a partial transcript of the conversation. Jeffries asked Obama how congressional Democrats should approach the technology once they regain control of the House majority.
Obama said the party needs to build a framework for a very public conversation. He noted that the technology is moving very fast in private hands and warned that failure to act could be dangerous. He added that if the country does manage to get on top of the issue, it will be beneficial. He genuinely thinks the technology is going to accelerate drug development in ways that can help cure diseases.
In a statement, Jeffries said the former president is correct that decisive action must be taken on artificial intelligence. Jeffries also said that Republicans have abdicated their responsibility to govern on behalf of the American people.
Obama’s contacts with AI leaders
Obama has offered himself as a sounding board to AI executives and has spoken to both Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. His comments come amidst growing concern around AI safety, particularly after an AI researcher resigned from Anthropic and claimed the leading AI companies are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives.
On Saturday, Amodei outlined a broad approach to pacing the frontier. This plan would include giving independent safety evaluators access to leading AI companies and models, as well as developing common safety standards between companies. In social media posts, Altman and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk seemed to respond positively to Amodei’s plan. Altman said that OpenAI would also commit to having independent evaluators with employee-like access.
Trump’s stance on AI guardrails
President Donald Trump discussed AI safety concerns with reporters at an Irish golf event on Sunday. Bloomberg reports that Trump boasted that the United States is the most sophisticated country in the world. He added that he wants to keep it that way because whoever wins AI wins. Earlier this year, the Trump administration released a legislative framework for AI that would preempt state laws and shift the child safety burden to parents.
“And we can put guardrails,” Trump said. “We can do this and that. But I think you have a lot of negative forces that are bringing it up that shouldn’t be bringing it up.”
What it means
Democrats are being pushed to move from vague discussions to specific legislation before the next election cycle. Meanwhile, industry leaders are trying to set their own safety rules, while the current administration argues that regulation is unnecessary.
