House Democrats Urge Speaker Johnson to Cancel Recess for AI Safety
House Democrats are pressuring Speaker Mike Johnson to cancel a congressional recess to establish bipartisan safeguards against catastrophic artificial intelligence risks.
House Democratic Representatives Sam Liccardo, George Whitesides, Lori Trahan, and Ted Lieu are pressuring Speaker Mike Johnson to cancel an upcoming congressional recess to establish bipartisan safeguards for advanced artificial intelligence. In a letter to the Speaker, the lawmakers describe the current lack of regulation as a "conflagration of risk" and warn of "catastrophic risk," including mass cybersecurity breaches and the development of biological or chemical weapons.
To support their demands, the representatives cited a threat-intelligence report from Anthropic. The report detailed the disruption of AI-driven operations linked to China and Iran, specifically noting efforts to develop targeting recommendations against U.S. naval forces.
The House is scheduled to reconvene Monday for one legislative week. Following that session, the body is slated to begin a break lasting until November 9, following the midterm elections.
