House Speaker says AI safety is industry’s job, not Congress
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Speaker Mike Johnson told CNN that AI developers should ensure product safety and opposed a congressional moratorium, citing competition with China.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson told CNN’s “State of the Union” that responsibility for AI safety rests with developers, not lawmakers, and rejected calls for a national moratorium on AI projects. He said a ban would give China a competitive edge, adding that “if Congress just races in and does some sort of emergency session to try to regulate AI, we will lose the race to China, and that is a threat to every single American.”
Johnson said he would support dialogue with technology leaders and referenced a recent social-media post by White House AI adviser David Sacks that urged industry to protect the public from harm. “We need to handle this new technology like we have others in the past and make sure we’re doing everything we can responsibly to also not smother American innovation,” he said.
The remarks came amid heightened debate over AI risks, highlighted by Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon’s resignation and CEO Dario Amodei’s call for stronger safeguards. Both Elon Musk’s xAI and OpenAI chief Sam Altman have echoed the need for caution.
Democratic officials responded critically. Senator Ruben Gallego compared AI’s decision-making power to that of a nuclear weapon, while former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said congressional inaction on AI is “deeply dangerous.” Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said AI will be a high-priority issue for the Democratic caucus.
Polls show strong public opposition to AI data centers, with 69% of respondents in a recent NBC News survey and 70% in a Gallup poll indicating they oppose local construction of such facilities.