Kamala Harris joins calls for ‘slowdown’ in AI development
By Arlette Saenz, CNN
(CNN) — Former Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday warned of the “alarming speed” at which artificial intelligence is progressing, joining calls from some industry leaders for a “slowdown” in the technology’s development amid growing public concerns.
“The frontier of artificial intelligence is advancing at an alarming speed. Over the weekend, industry leaders voiced support for an idea that the American people and many AI researchers in their own labs have been calling for: We must responsibly slow the pace of frontier AI development,” she said on X. “A slowdown is critical in order to ensure AI serves the public interest.”
While she praised the ability of AI to make progress in important sectors, like medicine, she said the technology needs “sensible guardrails so that AI does not completely escape human control and endanger our safety and collective future.”
The debate around artificial intelligence has ramped up in recent days, with some politicians and tech executives calling for greater government regulation of the industry while President Donald Trump has deemed the concerns about AI a “HOAX” and part of a “SICK conspiracy.”
In a sign of the issue’s political potency, former President Barack Obama, speaking at a private fundraiser alongside House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, last week urged Democrats, including those considering running for president in 2028, to put AI at the center of their agendas. “This is something that is moving very fast in private hands, and if we don’t get on top of it, I think can be dangerous,” he said.
Harris, who is seen as a possible 2028 contender after falling short of winning the presidency in 2024, called for Congress to establish a federal oversight agency and urged Trump, her former rival, to work towards an international treaty to address AI.
“The United States must continue to lead the world in developing AI technology even as we seek to impose common-sense safety standards,” she said. “This means that the president must do his job to protect America’s interests by pursuing a treaty with countries like China to stop dangerous uses of AI, limit the speed of its development, and adopt global standards for testing.”
Trump, however, has fiercely rejected calls for a slowdown in a series of social media posts in recent days downplaying safety concerns and hyping up the need to stay competitive with China.
“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!” Trump said on Monday. “We already have tremendous CRIMINAL and REGULATORY power over these companies! There is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China.”
Trump’s stance appears to be at odds with the growing public concerns about AI’s development. Over the weekend, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei penned a lengthy essay calling for a slowdown in the development of artificial intelligence. In an exclusive interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Saturday, Amodei called on industry leaders to work together to avoid “the wrong paths” and the possibility of AI harming humanity.
Pete Buttigieg, a former Transportation secretary whose name is also in the mix for 2028, has also emphasized the stakes of the technology and over the weekend argued that the government need to address AI “head on.”
“AI is moving quickly. And for Congress to just sit on its hands, for the White House to do nothing real is something that is deeply dangerous to the American people and the world,” Buttigieg said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “There need to be safeguards. There need to be rules. There need to be limits. There needs to be a kill switch on rogue AI. You can set up frameworks that can be adjusted and changed every 30 days.”
The-CNN-Wire
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