House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries is pushing for immediate congressional action on artificial intelligence regulation, warning that delays could leave Americans exposed to serious risks.
Jeffries made his position clear Sunday during an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” hosted by George Stephanopoulos, calling for swift legislative movement.
“We certainly need to begin to act urgently to address the challenges that exist,” Jeffries told Stephanopoulos during the interview.
The New York congressman said AI regulation will be a “high priority” agenda item during his caucus’s closed-door meeting scheduled for Tuesday.
Jeffries also took direct aim at Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) for disbanding a bipartisan AI safety task force at the start of the 119th Congress.
House Democrats have responded by launching their own commission on AI, with Jeffries promising his colleagues will “present an aggressive framework” to protect Americans from emerging risks.
“We should take decisive action now so that we can slow down … the pace of development in order to protect the American people and ensure that AI is proceeding safely,” Jeffries said Sunday.
The Democratic leader also criticized Republican counterparts for canceling the final two weeks of the lower chamber’s September session, saying they have “abandoned their responsibility” on the issue.
Concerns about AI development have been amplified by researchers inside the industry itself, including Jacob Coxon, who recently resigned from Anthropic and issued stark public warnings.
Coxon wrote on social platform X that those building AI models “earnestly believe that [AI] could kill us all by the end of the decade,” urging the public not to dismiss the technology’s power.
“Do not underestimate the power of this technology,” Coxon wrote. “These will soon be superhuman systems that can hack anything, revolutionize any field overnight, and acquire real power and resources.”
His resignation and public warning have added urgency to a broader debate in Washington over how quickly the federal government should move to regulate AI development.
With Democrats organizing internally and Republican leadership drawing criticism for retreating from bipartisan efforts, the path to meaningful AI legislation through Congress remains uncertain but increasingly contested.
