Bernie Sanders quotes world’s biggest AI scientists to warn everyone on AI; says: We must make sure that AI…
Bernie Sanders quotes world’s ‘biggest’ AI scientists to warn everyone on AI, says: We must make sure that AI…Bernie Sanders posted a lengthy statement on X this week, citing some of the most prominent voices in AI research to argue that the technology poses risks far beyond job losses or privacy concerns. At the center of his warning: the possibility that AI could one day surpass human intelligence and operate entirely beyond human control.Sanders quoted Yoshua Bengio—widely regarded as the most-cited living scientist in the world—who has said the AI race amounts to “playing with fire” and that researchers still don’t know how to ensure the machines won’t turn against us. He also cited Geoffrey Hinton, the Nobel Prize-winning “godfather of AI,” who has put the odds of AI wiping out humanity somewhere between 10 and 20 percent.
Bernie Sanders says Congress has gone silent on AI’s existential risks
Those aren’t fringe voices. That’s exactly why Sanders is frustrated that Washington has largely stayed quiet. He pointed to the now-famous 2023 open letter—signed by over 1,000 AI experts including Elon Musk—which asked whether humanity should “automate away all the jobs, including the fulfilling ones” or “develop nonhuman minds that might eventually outnumber, outsmart, obsolete and replace us.” Three years later, Sanders noted, there’s been no pause on AI development, no international AI treaty, and no serious congressional debate on the existential threat.“Has there been serious discussion in Congress about this existential threat? No,” he wrote flatly.His concerns go beyond worst-case scenarios. Sanders has spent months raising alarms about AI’s immediate, everyday damage—the 54,000 US layoffs attributed to AI in 2024 alone, its documented effects on children’s emotional and cognitive well-being, and the steady erosion of digital privacy. These aren’t hypotheticals. They’re already happening.
Sanders to host US-China AI scientists at Capitol Hill in rare Bipartisan push
To move the conversation forward, Sanders announced he would host a discussion at the US Capitol with leading AI researchers from both the United States and China—a deliberate nod toward international cooperation at a moment of intense geopolitical rivalry. The event was open to the public via livestream on his social media.His broader legislative push includes a Senate bill, co-introduced with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, calling for an immediate moratorium on new AI datacenter construction until strong federal safeguards are in place—a proposal that has gone from fringe idea to mainstream policy debate in a matter of months.
Read Bernie Sanders’ full statement
“Nearly every day, a new headline comes out about how AI is upending the world—from displacing workers, to negatively impacting our children’s emotional and cognitive well-being, to eviscerating our privacy, to threatening the integrity of our political institutions.And yet, as significant as these changes might seem, there is another AI development that could have an even more frightening impact. Increasingly, AI scientists are concerned about the possibility that, if AI becomes smarter than human beings, we could lose control over this revolutionary technology and AI could turn against the human race with cataclysmic consequences.Yoshua Bengio, the most cited living scientist in the world, says “we’re playing with fire” and “we still don’t know how to make sure [the machines] won’t turn against us.” Geoffrey Hinton, the Nobel Prize-winning “godfather of AI,” says there is a “10% to 20% chance [for AI] to wipe us out.”They are not alone. In 2023, more than 1,000 leading AI experts, including Elon Musk, signed a letter warning that: “Contemporary AI systems are now becoming human-competitive at general tasks, and we must ask ourselves: Should we let machines flood our information channels with propaganda and untruth? Should we automate away all the jobs, including the fulfilling ones? Should we develop nonhuman minds that might eventually outnumber, outsmart, obsolete and replace us? Should we risk loss of control of our civilization?”What has happened since that letter was written? Has there been a pause on AI development? No. Has there been any international treaty to regulate AI? No. Has there been serious discussion in Congress about this existential threat? No.The development of artificial intelligence may be the most consequential technological development in human history. We must make certain that AI benefits humanity, not hurts us.On Wednesday, I’ll be hosting a discussion at the US Capitol with leading AI scientists from the United States and China about the existential risks posed by AI and the need for international cooperation. I hope you will join us—in person or via livestream on my social media.”—Sen. Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders)
