What AI urgency? Industry and leaders split on how to handle advanced tech’s threats

The image of industry powerhouses united in addressing AI's potential threats to humanity is rapidly dissolving. Just four days after OpenAI, Anthropic, and Elon Musk endorsed a call for slowing AI's progress, a diverse group of leaders and lawmakers at POLITICO's Decoded Summit found no consensus on regulating the technology, despite generally agreeing on the need for leadership.

Anthropic's policy chief Sarah Heck isn't on board with Congress mandating independent AI monitoring, a proposal OpenAI had previously supported. Progressive Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) wants mandatory AI limits and a federal agency to regulate it, while House Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) argues that policy should come first, with speed taking a backseat.

Former White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks contends that the media's panic over AI is driving congressional alarm — a view he attributes to Trump's resistance to such panic.

Despite industry calls for "light-touch" regulation, AI developers and policymakers remain at odds over the necessary level of oversight. OpenAI's lobby, Chris Lehane, supports a key provision of the Frontier Act which would establish a federal AI safety framework, but Anthropic's Heck refuses to endorse it. Progressive lawmakers like Rep. Casar and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) call for outright AI development pauses, while cybersecurity experts like Hugging Face CEO Clem Delangue suggest tougher liability laws could encourage AI companies to prioritize safety.

The absence of legislative consensus could be a significant setback as AI gains prominence ahead of the midterms. Democrats push for rapid congressional action, while Republicans, who hold both chambers, remain less eager to rush into AI regulation.