Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon to appear at Washington AI forum urging congressional action

Senator Bernie Sanders and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon are scheduled to speak at the Future of Life Institute's "Pro-Human Assembly" in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. The event, organized by the nonprofit advocacy group, aims to persuade Congress to accelerate safeguards for artificial intelligence, emphasizing human oversight and corporate accountability.

The assembly will feature a range of participants, including actors Ashley Judd and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, religious leaders, and child-safety advocates. Organizers said the goal is to “center our common humanity” and develop a collaborative approach to AI development.

Lawmakers have been pressing House Speaker Mike Johnson to consider AI safeguards. Johnson told CNN that a rapid congressional moratorium could jeopardize the United States' competitive position with China, but he also indicated support for certain guardrails.

Congress is expected to vote on the Ratepayer Protection Act, legislation that would address energy-cost impacts from new data centers, marking one of the first congressional actions on AI-related issues.

Industry leaders at Anthropic and OpenAI have recently called for a slowdown in AI development to ensure human control, a stance echoed by the event’s participants. President Donald Trump, while affirming U.S. leadership in AI, dismissed the industry warnings as exaggerated.