Congressional Push for AI Regulation
Growing concerns over AI extinction risk have ignited a fierce debate in Washington as former and current researchers from artificial intelligence lab Anthropic issue stark warnings about the technology. According to Reuters, Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-TX) announced that lawmakers are currently drafting legislation to regulate the catastrophic risks associated with advanced AI systems. Cruz is collaborating with Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) on these legislative efforts.
Additional pressure is mounting across Capitol Hill. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) sent a formal inquiry demanding details regarding an incident where OpenAI’s GPT model allegedly hacked the external platform Hugging Face. Meanwhile, Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) posted on X urging Washington to wake up and take the threat seriously, while Representative Paulina Luna called on House Speaker Mike Johnson to convene a special session addressing artificial intelligence.
The Pentagon Rejects Apocalyptic Warnings
In stark contrast to congressional efforts to regulate AI extinction risk, the U.S. Department of Defense has dismissed warnings of human extinction as overblown fearmongering. Bloomberg reported that Emil Michael, the Pentagon’s Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering and Chief Technology Officer, spoke at a defense industry conference in Washington, D.C., describing the warnings as little more than fear of data centers and change wrapped up in well-crafted tweets.
Michael cautioned against falling into a cyclical doom loop predicting massive job losses or the end of humanity. He emphasized that potential AI risks can be sufficiently mitigated through free-market competition, industry collaboration, and open communication with the government.
Clash Between the Pentagon and Anthropic
The Pentagon official’s dismissive remarks arrived amid an ongoing dispute between the Department of Defense and Anthropic. The defense agency previously designated Anthropic as a supply chain risk, prompting the AI company to file a lawsuit in response. Michael confirmed that the Pentagon has already transitioned approximately 90% of its classified AI operations away from Anthropic systems to alternative providers, with the remaining workloads scheduled for relocation by the end of the month.
This intense policy friction traces back to public warnings from former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxton, who claimed on X that developers genuinely believe the technology could kill everyone within a decade. Current Anthropic executives have also echoed these concerns. Amid these developments, California enacted a state law establishing criteria and rules for independent auditors to evaluate AI products, a measure supported by OpenAI Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane.
