Greg Casar Urges Halt to AI Arms Race at Pro-Human Assembly

The Pro-Human Assembly, organized by the Future of Life Institute, gathered labor leaders, technology critics, and lawmakers to address the risks posed by unchecked AI development. Casar challenged the prevailing political narrative that the U.S. must accelerate its efforts to beat China to artificial general intelligence. Instead, he argued that domestic safety guardrails and international diplomacy are the only viable path to preventing a catastrophic outcome.

Senator Bernie Sanders, who recently introduced the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act alongside Casar, echoed these concerns. Sanders drew parallels to the Cold War, suggesting that if Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev could negotiate nuclear arms reductions, current leaders could reach a similar treaty to regulate machine intelligence. He advocated for a pause on development until a federal regulatory body is established.

Opponents of such measures, including Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz, have characterized AI risks as exaggerated or secondary to the geopolitical necessity of winning the technological race. Casar dismissed this, arguing that the government would never permit an aerospace firm to build planes that ignore pilot commands, and that similar logic must apply to AI systems. He asserted that the goal is not to stop progress, but to ensure humanity remains the architect of its own future rather than a subject to its own inventions.