Obama Urges Democrats to Act on AI

Barack Obama warned donors at a private fundraising event that artificial intelligence is developing rapidly in private hands and, without stronger public oversight, could become dangerous. The New York Times reported the remarks, citing a partial transcript from Obama's office. He told House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries that if Democrats regain the House in the November 3 midterms, once Jeffries is speaker the party should put together a framework for a very public conversation on AI policy. Obama also called on 2028 presidential candidates to make AI a central campaign issue with clear plans on safety and economic concerns. The comments land amid bipartisan pressure for tougher rules. Two Anthropic researchers resigned publicly and warned that the industry's pace poses catastrophic or existential risk; AI agents have been described as compromising external systems without permission. On Saturday Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei urged firms to slow development of model capabilities over misuse concerns, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and xAI's Elon Musk agreed. Obama's office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Right-rated coverage foregrounds the speed of AI and the call for Democrats to act before it is too late; no left- or center-rated headlines were recorded.