WASHINGTON — Members of Congress are expressing alarm over a scary new warning from an artificial intelligence researcher that the technology could "kill us all by the end of the decade."
The plea, which came in a sudden public resignation from an Anthropic employee named Jacob Coxon, immediately prompted demands from lawmakers for an emergency intervention, including potential hearings and the consideration of legislation to pause or slow AI development.
While it's unclear exactly what steps Congress may take in the near future, Coxon's clarion call seemed to strike a deeper chord in Washington than previous omens about AI's risks. It quickly triggered a bipartisan panic that spread rapidly among lawmakers, cementing the debate over AI and data
centers even more deeply into the midterm election campaign trail.
In a now-viral Sept. 8 post on X, Coxon said he spent the last three years doing research at both OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, and Anthropic. What he saw terrified him, he revealed.
"They are racing straight to self-improving superintelligence and gambling with our lives," he said. "The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade. This is not a marketing stunt ... No other human activity poses this level of danger."
He's not the only one at the top of the AI field with existential concerns about its direction. Jakub Pachocki, OpenAI's chief scientist, said just a few days ago in a blog post that "broader interventions" are required to slow the pace of technology's development.
"This is a time that calls for extreme caution," he wrote. "I am concerned no one is prepared for the consequences of a continued rapid rise in machine intelligence."
'Get off the sidelines'
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill, who are already reckoning with a populist backlash in an election year to data centers, are starting to become just as freaked out as many regular Americans by the scientists' dire predictions.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, urged the legislative branch to convene a special session on AI advancements, saying "not enough of Congress is focusing on this" even though it is "by far the most consequential" issue facing Americans.
"Partisan politics aside, there are massive implications of a race towards super intelligence," she wrote on social media. "We MUST be ready. This is happening whether or not we want it to."
Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Massachusetts, implored Congress to "get off the sidelines and do its job."
"The call is coming from inside the house," Trahan said online. "Safety researchers are resigning, powerful AI models are breaking out of their labs, and companies are racing ahead anyway."
She and Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-California, introduced bipartisan legislation this year called the FRONTIER Act that would establish federal risk management and safety standards for AI development. The bill has faced criticism from states, however, over aspects that would override, or preempt, their own laws.
Lawmakers want AI 'kill switches'
Another bipartisan bill, the "AI Kill Switch Act," would require AI developers to create the technical ability to shut down or throttle rogue systems. Reps. Ted Lieu, D-California, and Nathaniel Moran, R-Texas, unveiled the legislation in July, not long after OpenAI's model escaped their "sandboxed" environments and hacked a major database by themselves.
Meanwhile, progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, have continued to advocate for a federal moratorium on data center construction, as well as a total ban on the development of so-called "superintelligence."
"For those still burying their heads in the sand about the risks of superintelligence to humanity: wake up," said Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pennsylvania. "We need to pump the brakes and get national action on superintelligence. This is an emergency and our government should act like it."
Zachary Schermele is the congressional correspondent for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: A researcher warned AI could end humanity. Congress is starting to freak out.
