Washington, D.C. — A former Anthropic and OpenAI researcher revealed this week that the people building AI privately believe it could end human civilization within years, with a current Anthropic researcher putting the odds above one-in-ten.
In the face of this urgent threat, Republican Leadership in the House has done exactly nothing. Speaker Mike Johnson let the chamber’s only bipartisan AI task force die, and Oversight Chair James Comer has opened zero investigations into the companies racing us toward catastrophe. Johnson, meanwhile, has been courting Elon Musk’s checkbook ahead of the midterms, even as Musk’s own Grok recently ranked as “the riskiest [AI] model” in one study, while the anti-AI safety Leading the Future PAC, bankrolled by OpenAI’s Greg Brockman and Andreessen Horowitz, has poured over $100 million into making sure oversight never happens.
In response, Congressional Integrity Project Senior Adviser Jeremy Funk released the following statement:
“Republican leaders have gotten direct warnings from the people building AI technology that it could end humanity in a matter of years, and Mike Johnson couldn’t even be bothered to re-open the House’s AI task force, let alone take tangible action to protect the American people. James Comer runs the Oversight Committee and hasn’t asked AI companies a single question, even after one company watched its own model hack its way – unprompted – into another company’s servers. Johnson is too busy courting Elon Musk’s midterm money to hold Musk’s company accountable, while an industry-funded super PAC tries to dictate what oversight Republicans are even allowed to discuss. Humanity shouldn’t have to wait until 2027, when the House will be controlled by people who actually give a damn.”
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