Senator Bernie Sanders and former White House strategist Steve Bannon appeared at a Washington, D.C. assembly on Tuesday to condemn the artificial intelligence industry and its leadership. Sanders announced upcoming legislation to ban superintelligent AI, while Bannon urged a nationalist approach to restrict tech exchanges with China.
An unusual political alignment took shape on Tuesday as progressive and conservative figures shared a stage in Washington to challenge the direction of the technology sector. Left-wing independent Senator Bernie Sanders and MAGA strategist Steve Bannon appeared at the Pro-Human Assembly to rail against artificial intelligence companies and their leaders. Despite their shared skepticism toward tech executives, the two speakers outlined sharply different approaches to regulating the rapidly evolving technology.
Bernie Sanders and Greg Casar Push for a Ban on Superintelligent AI
Speaking to a packed ballroom of nearly 300 attendees at the Marriott hotel, Sanders warned that advanced technology threatens to surpass human control. He announced that he will introduce legislation alongside Representative Greg Casar next week to permanently ban the development of superintelligent
AI.
Sanders criticized both major political parties for failing to keep pace with technological advancements, arguing that decisions are currently driven by profit motives rather than public interest. Sanders told NPR on Tuesday that Congress, under both Democratic and Republican control, had been asleep at the wheel, and they now had a president whose ignorance regarding that issue was truly embarrassing.
The Vermont senator also stated that he hopes President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will negotiate a treaty to pause advanced development during their scheduled White House summit next week. His appearance at the all-day event followed a recent high-profile resignation by an Anthropic employee who warned that major developers are gambling with public safety.
Steve Bannon Calls for National Security Curbs and Restrictions on China
Taking the stage immediately after Sanders, Bannon framed the technology as a defining historical issue and argued for a nationalist strategy to counter industry power. He asserted that technology leaders possess immense wealth and influence but lack public trust, emphasizing that the American public should no longer act as passive observers.
Steve Bannon, former White House strategist, stated that it was a pivotal moment in history, adding that people could never trust what oligarchs said because everything they did was disingenuous and based on lies, and asserting that it had to be up to the American people, who would no longer act as supplicants.
To address national security risks, Bannon proposed aggressive trade and personnel restrictions involving China. He advocated for a complete halt to the exchange of chips, technology, and knowledge between the United States and China, declaring that authorities should remove all Chinese nationals from research labs and send them back to the mainland.
Washington Divides Over Regulation While Trump Dismisses Safety Alarms
The conference, organized by the nonprofit Future of Life Institute, highlighted deep divisions across the political spectrum regarding federal oversight. While lawmakers from various factions voice mounting anxiety, the Trump administration has consistently pushed back against regulatory proposals. President Trump took to social media to dismiss warnings of existential catastrophe, writing in a Truth Social post that such fears are a hoax and that the only necessary safeguard is a high-IQ president.
House Speaker Mike Johnson similarly resisted emergency congressional action, telling reporters that placing a moratorium on development would allow adversaries to overtake American capabilities. Johnson told CNN over the weekend that if Congress merely rushed in and held some form of emergency session to attempt to regulate AI, they would lose the race to China, which he described as a threat to every single American.
Meanwhile, other political figures have looked elsewhere for regulatory models. Fox News analyst Jessica Tarlov noted on The Five that California Governor Gavin Newsom’s state-level guardrails—which mandate regular audits and protections for children—could serve as a viable road map for federal legislation, even as she expressed personal skepticism regarding the alliance between Sanders and Bannon.
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