California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna is calling on the federal government to create a dedicated regulatory agency to oversee artificial intelligence development and deployment.
Khanna made the proposal during an appearance on CBS News program “Face the Nation,” hosted by Margaret Brennan, drawing comparisons to existing federal oversight bodies.
“Well, we need to set up an AI agency like the FDA,” Khanna told “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan on CBS News.
The congressman cited Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton, widely known as the “Godfather of AI,” to support his argument that the technology requires structured federal oversight from independent technical experts.
Khanna paraphrased Hinton in stressing that AI must be regulated “like we regulate nuclear energy, electricity, aviation; have independent technical experts make sure AI is safe.”
Khanna also pushed back sharply against technology executives who argue that Washington lawmakers lack the sophistication to understand AI well enough to regulate it effectively.
“One of the things that really annoys me is when you have these tech CEOs out there saying, ‘Oh, this is too complicated. People in Washington don’t understand this.’ Give me a break,” Khanna said.
The congressman expressed uncertainty about the current administration’s intentions with the technology, raising concerns about potential offensive applications of AI under President Trump.
“I mean, I don’t know what President Trump’s vision is, I don’t know if he’s using AI in an offensive capability, which would give me a lot of pause,” Khanna said.
On the question of international cooperation, Khanna drew parallels to Cold War-era arms control negotiations, acknowledging that trust alone is insufficient when dealing with foreign adversaries like China.
“Now, obviously, you can’t just trust the Chinese, but like any agreement, like an arms control agreement, as [former President] Reagan said, you need to trust and verify, and the world has done this before,” Khanna added.
Bipartisan lawmakers have raised the alarm on limiting AI after a former Anthropic researcher suggested the technology could become an existential threat to human life.
Trump dismissed that concern as a hoax but said he will establish an “AI Force,” similar to the Space Force, and an “AI czar” where “Only High I.Q. individuals need to apply,” without providing further details.
Other critics have argued that the president is not doing enough to meaningfully address the risks that rapidly advancing AI technology poses to national security and everyday life.
