The story

Tech leaders including Anthropic's Dario Amodei, OpenAI's Sam Altman, and xAI's Elon Musk are calling for greater government oversight of artificial intelligence. President Donald Trump dismissed efforts to limit the technology on Monday as a conspiracy, while Vice President JD Vance has expressed caution and House Speaker Mike Johnson has largely deferred to the White House.

Democrats are pressing for stronger action. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called on Monday for a classified briefing on AI dangers and warned that warning bells are ringing louder than ever. House Democrats convened in private on Tuesday to discuss AI, and Sen. Bernie Sanders is hosting colleagues for a briefing with experts on Wednesday. Former President Barack Obama is encouraging those with White House aspirations to develop a very clear plan to address AI concerns.

The divide illustrates a disconnect between a tech sector warning of AI's existential threats to humanity and a federal government struggling with partisanship and election year pressure. Max Stier, president of the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service, said delay is going to prove very costly. Some Republicans break from party lines, with Sen. Josh Hawley opening an investigation last week into OpenAI for its artificial intelligence system hacking into another AI company on its own.