THE CRUNCH
Political opposites Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon have united in Washington to demand tighter government limits on artificial intelligence, calling for construction freezes on data centres and presidential executive orders. The unusual coalition, which also includes religious leaders and artists, argues that the technology poses a dangerous and unprecedented risk to humanity. Meanwhile, OpenAI has backed the FRONTI
ER Act, the first US federal bill that would force major AI developers to undergo safety audits by independent third parties. The bill, introduced by Jay Obernolte and Lori Trahan, applies only to companies above high revenue and compute thresholds. OpenAI's head of global affairs confirmed the company's support for the provision, marking the first time the firm has backed a concrete federal mandate for outside safety auditors. President Trump has dismissed concerns about AI as a hoax and threatened operators with criminal action for harms caused by their systems.
The gathering at the Pro-Human Assembly highlighted a rare convergence of views across the political spectrum. While Sanders has introduced a bill to pause data centre construction and called for a deal between Trump and Xi Jinping to ban superintelligent AI, Bannon believes legislation alone will not be enough and prefers a presidential executive order. The White House remains firmly opposed to these calls, with the President threatening AI chiefs with criminal action for system harms.