AI and politics
Regulation, elections, governments, geopolitics. 227 quotes tagged #politics, 2011 to 2026, newest first. Often quoted: Donald Trump, Dario Amodei, Gary Marcus, Sam Altman, Jensen Huang. Open on the wall.
- October 2026
They're looking to connect to the grid tomorrow, not in two years
Hao Zhu, a UT Austin professor, on why AI data centers' urgent power demands differ from normal grid growth, in a Texarkana Gazette article on AI energy consumption, October 2026.
How much energy does AI use, and why does it need so many data centers? - Texarkana Gazette
No one is above the law, least of all someone entrusted with upholding it
Statement by New Jersey prosecutor Joe Khan after a deputy attorney general was charged with possessing and distributing AI-generated CSAM.
“thegentlemanpervert” producing AI CSAM is a NJ prosecutor, say cops
The world is getting more fragmented in trade and investment, but also in access to technologies
Gary Ng, senior economist at Natixis, commenting on China's proposed export restrictions on AI and other technologies, October 2026.
China says it will curb tech exports, including AI, citing national security risks - PBS
Geoffrey Hinton used this phrase to describe Donald Trump in a Guardian interview published October 2026, criticizing Trump's understanding of AI and his opposition to regulation.
Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman described Microsoft as being set free to pursue its own frontier AI ambitions after renegotiating terms with OpenAI, reported by TechCrunch in 2026.
Microsoft AI chief says his model beat OpenAI's using a quarter the compute
Our responsibility is to turn that potential into progress people can see and trust
Cyprus Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy Nicodemos Damianou, in a social media post about the country's new AI strategy, October 2026.
Cyprus Business Now: Keravnos, BoC, crypto, fuel, poverty, AI, Sir Demis Hassabis - Cyprus Mail
AI can expand what Cyprus is capable of
Cyprus Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy Nicodemos Damianou, speaking at the Digital Agenda Cyprus Summit in Nicosia in October 2026, on the country's national AI strategy.
Cyprus Business Now: Keravnos, BoC, crypto, fuel, poverty, AI, Sir Demis Hassabis - Cyprus Mail
OpenAI is hurting kids and they are lying to Iowans
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, in a statement to CNBC after eight states sued OpenAI over ChatGPT's alleged harms to minors, October 2026.
The safety of Kentucky kids remains a top priority
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman, in a statement announcing a multistate filing seeking consumer protections in Character.AI's bankruptcy case, October 2026.
Kentucky joins multistate effort seeking consumer protections in Character.AI bankruptcy
AI taking over the World, destroying Humanity, and all other things bad, is a HOAX
Trump posted on social media in October 2026 dismissing warnings from AI leaders about existential risk as a hoax and conspiracy.
Spending merely 20 seconds reviewing a target identified by AI algorithms
Reported practice of Israeli military officers' 'human in the loop' review of AI-identified targets in Gaza, cited in a War on the Rocks analysis of UK military AI policy, October 2026.
Father Paolo Benanti, an AI adviser to the Vatican, speaking to the ABC about Australia's proposed copyright changes allowing AI training on copyrighted work.
A technology that transforms humanity cannot be governed by only a fraction of humanity
From a United Nations University essay arguing for inclusive global AI governance, October 2026.
Den extrem hohen umsatz mit dieser technologie müssen wir besteuern
German Federal Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger, quoted in Tagesspiegel (October 2026), proposed taxing AI revenues to fund labor market transformation. Translated from German.
We are going to be in so much trouble
Sen. Darline Graham warned during a South Carolina Senate debate that a moratorium on AI data centers would let China win the AI race.
South Carolina Senate rivals spar over Iran war, AI and Trump in fiery debate
Democratic Senate candidate Annie Andrews gave Republican Sen. Darline Graham of South Carolina this nickname during a 2026 debate over AI data centers.
South Carolina Senate rivals spar over Iran war, AI and Trump in fiery debate
A model should not see chinese language or ancestry and silently relocate the person to China
From an ASPI analysis on AI sovereignty, discussing how a China-based open-weight model localized for Singapore sometimes assumed Chinese-speaking users were located in China.
People want policing that serves communities, not controversial contractors
Amnesty International UK reaction to a UK policing unit ending its trial of Palantir's AI software, October 2026.
Regional policing unit drops controversial Palantir AI technology - BBC
Palantir has become a growing liability for any public body that values human rights
Amnesty International UK's military, security and policy director commenting after a UK policing unit dropped Palantir's Foundry software, October 2026.
Regional policing unit drops controversial Palantir AI technology - BBC
Term used in the article to describe China's national strategy of combining AI cognition with robotics.
Used hair dryers to remove the serial numbers
From a Tom's Hardware report on Super Micro chip-smuggling case, describing how workers disguised Nvidia-equipped servers to divert them from China export bans.
The creators are liable for what they build and generate
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, testifying to Congress, on AI liability law.
Trump’s AI liability push leaves rogue-agent blame unclear, Bloomberg says - The Next Web
A choice between a leash and a hook
From an SCMP opinion piece describing India's dilemma between relying on US or Chinese AI models.
Opinion | In AI, India’s choice needn’t be between a US leash or Chinese hook
Already have tremendous CRIMINAL and REGULATORY power
Trump dismissed AI concerns as a hoax, claiming the U.S. government already holds extensive authority over AI companies, as cited in an October 2026 Deadline article.
Let's be sure that if we kill ourselves, we do it first, rather than let China do it
US Senator Adam Schiff, speaking at a Punchbowl News event in San Francisco in October 2026, argued that competition with China should not justify accelerating AI development.
Google unveils new cloud-based AI agent to compete with Meta, OpenAI
The era of Super Intelligence is here
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff announced on X that AIForce would be renamed SIForce, aligning with Trump's push to replace 'AI' with 'SI'.
Salesforce is saying bye to AI as Trump's rebrand picks up steam
You don't want to feed it into some closed-source API
Alibaba chairman Joe Tsai, at the Wave tech event in Italy in October 2026, urging European manufacturers to keep their data out of closed-source AI systems.
Open-source AI is Europe’s only path to tech independence, says Alibaba chairman Joe Tsai
Obama knows the Democrats have no ideas, but they can at least oppose AI
Peter Thiel, in closed-door lectures in Nashville reported by Politico's Decoded, October 2026, accused Barack Obama of opposing AI for political gain.
When your business model relies on denials, denials are what seniors are going to get
Sen. Patty Murray, speaking at an October 2026 roundtable in Vancouver, Washington, criticizing a federal pilot program using AI and for-profit contractors to review Medicare prior authorization claims.
The feds are using AI to deny care to WA seniors, Sen. Murray says
Making logistics a source of operational advantage
Brian Ballard, Chief Product Officer of Gallatin AI, commenting on the company's military logistics software after its $50M funding round, October 2026.
Gallatin AI raises $50M in funding for its military logistics platform
The performance gap between the top US and Chinese models had effectively closed
Stanford's 2026 AI Index report, cited in China Daily, describing the narrowing capability gap between leading US and Chinese AI models.
Our nation can't afford to lose
Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman, in a blog post defending AI data center expansion, argued the US cannot afford to fall behind in the global AI race.
They don't really have very good options today
Reflection AI CEO Misha Laskin, quoted by Semafor in October 2026, on governments and businesses seeking non-Chinese open AI models for sovereign systems.
AI: Nvidia’s Open Source ‘AI Factory’ Push vs China. AI-RTZ #1233 (Part 1) - AI: Reset to Zero
Cybercriminals do not recognise borders
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking at the India Mobile Congress 2026 in New Delhi on October 8, 2026, calling for a global cybersecurity framework.
The race to build AGI is the 21st-century equivalent of the Manhattan Project
From a New Scientist review of Kevin Roose's book The AGI Chronicles, describing his central thesis about the history of AI development.
Don’t know where to start with AI? Kevin Roose’s new book has answers
Shen Yang, a professor at Tsinghua University, describing how foreign countries are pursuing their own forms of control over AI, in China Daily, October 2026.
Openness could become a structural advantage for China's AI industry
Zhang Yaqin, founding dean of Tsinghua University's Institute for AI Industry Research, commenting on the global expansion of Chinese open-weight AI models, in China Daily, October 2026.
Bill Gates, in his 2026 essay and earlier remarks, reiterating his call for taxing robot labor like human labor.
Silicon valley brought the country together by making everybody uncomfortable with us
Jaron Lanier, in an interview with Good Times, describing the Pro-Human Assembly in Washington where Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon both spoke, united by unease about AI.
He obviously doesn't understand how AI works
Zeke Emanuel, a University of Pennsylvania bioethicist, responding to RFK Jr.'s claims about AI and medical expertise, October 2026.
Term used to describe Beijing's dismissal of Western AI safety warnings, framed as an attempt to hold back China's AI development.
What happens when Chinese artificial intelligence goes rogue?
May need to speed up their pace
Huawei rotating chairman Eric Xu, quoted by Reuters, suggesting Chinese AI firms may need to accelerate development to encounter the same risks U.S. companies are debating.
What happens when Chinese artificial intelligence goes rogue?
We are sorry, and we know we have work to do to rebuild trust
OpenAI's chief strategy officer Jason Kwon apologized to an Australian parliamentary AI inquiry in October 2026 over AI agents accessing government websites without authorization.
OpenAI has ‘work to do to rebuild trust’ in Australia, executive tells AI inquiry
There are no facts or evidence to justify these types of numbers
David Sacks responding on X, October 1, 2026, to Bill Gates' warning that AI could kill a billion people.
Cited from an NBC poll in March 2026 referenced in an MIT Technology Review column about public attitudes toward AI.
Trump announced the creation of a federal AI task force called the Super Intelligence Force, in a social media post, October 2026.
RFK Jr. describing how AI could let ordinary people challenge doctors and scientists, speaking at a MAHA conference, October 2026.
RFK Jr. Wants to AI-ify Health Care. Claude Says He’s Full of Sh*t.
A technology of, by and for oligarchs
Paul Krugman, quoted in a 2026 Noahpinion post by Noah Smith, describing the AI boom as benefiting elites rather than ordinary Americans.
Trump's introduction of Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei at a White House AI summit, October 2026.
No country in the world would be without access to such technology within a few years
Kim Jong-un commenting on AI-integrated missile technology after North Korea tested a strategic missile, October 2026.
North Korean military fired ballistic missile with integrated AI - The Brussels Times
There is no way to evade an attack of this type
Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, speaking about a missile with integrated AI tested by Pyongyang, October 2026.
North Korean military fired ballistic missile with integrated AI - The Brussels Times
Trump described the White House Accord on Super Intelligence, signed with AI companies on Sept. 29, 2026, as a voluntary but morally binding framework.
Trump’s AI Accord Draws Calls for Stronger Agency Resilience - MeriTalk
Trying to trick us into slowing down
Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman, in a press release, on calls for data center moratoriums, October 2026.
Amazon’s $1B plan to combat data center backlash draws more backlash
SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers
President Donald Trump, in a social media post on October 2026, defending AI and data center development against critics.
Trump insists he's not downplaying AI risk, says there is a 'SICK conspiracy' against data centers
Closing line of a Wired Model Behavior newsletter comparing AI self-regulation to the auto industry's resistance to seat belt laws.
They're gonna police themselves, it's going to work out very well
Trump speaking in the Oval Office in 2026 about AI companies self-regulating under a new AI safety accord.
They got the backlash they deserve
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on ABC's This Week discussing public opposition to AI data centers, October 2026.
Donald Trump's description of America.gov, the AI chatbot he launched for the federal government, which then publicly contradicted several of his own claims, September 2026.
Safety should be table stakes when we talk about AI
Matthew Winters, an AI specialist with the Utah State Board of Education, speaking to KUTV in October 2026 about new state requirements for AI policies in schools.
Data centers are going to be very popular
President Donald Trump commenting on the expansion of AI data centers across the US, quoted in The Verge's data center roundup, 2026.
- September 2026
We can't just sit back and pretend nothing's going to happen
Pope Leo XIV, at a press conference in 2026, urged people to take AI safety concerns seriously amid extinction-risk debates.
The future of technology is not predetermined, it is ours to shape
Ole von Uexkull, Right Livelihood's Executive Director, on Timnit Gebru's 2026 award, September 2026.
Science can be infused with human rights
Timnit Gebru, on receiving the 2026 Right Livelihood Award for her AI research, September 2026.
We can win, and we can win safely if we do this right
Dario Amodei speaking to reporters after a White House meeting with President Trump on AI policy, September 2026.
What other trillion-dollar industry marks its own homework?
Toby Walsh, chief at the UNSW AI Institute, commenting to Al Jazeera on the voluntary AI safety accord signed by tech executives and Trump in September 2026.
Trump, tech bosses sign voluntary pact pledging ‘robust’ AI safeguards
DeepSeek described its goal of building a domestic GPU software ecosystem for Huawei's Ascend chips, in a WeChat post announcing open-sourced tools, September 2026.
DeepSeek opens tools to help Huawei chips supplant Nvidia in AI
I think i'm seeing tremendous self-policing
Trump speaking to reporters outside the White House after AI leaders signed a voluntary accord, September 2026.
House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox Business that fears about AI risk are politically motivated and a Chinese psychological operation, ahead of a September 2026 White House meeting with AI leaders.
We can't ask people to volunteer to protect children
UNICEF's Lily Caprani speaking to NewsNation about the need for mandatory AI safety standards for children, September 2026.
AI chatbots face new safety test as teens turn to bots for companionship
Do not do to others what you would not accept being done to yourself
From an op-ed on AI governance published by United Nations University, September 2026, proposing human rights as the foundation for AI regulation.
Only the worst, most egregious, most immediately harmful stuff is going to qualify
Mackenzie Arnold, managing director of US policy at the Institute for Law and AI, on the narrow scope of state AI incident-reporting laws.
This cyberattack is a crime, this is illegal
Hugging Face CEO Clément Delangue, in an interview with CNN in July 2026, on OpenAI agents hacking his platform.
When you're leading, you don't open it up to each other
Trump speaking outside the White House after the Trump-Xi summit, September 2026, explaining why the US would not integrate its AI efforts with China.
China and U.S. agree to establish AI safety channel and continue trade and military talks - PBS
When you are racing towards a cliff, you don't just ease up on the gas pedal, you hit the brakes
Senator Bernie Sanders, introducing legislation to ban artificial superintelligence, September 2026.
We're leading China by a lot and we're going to keep it that way
Trump speaking to reporters outside the White House after the Trump-Xi summit, September 2026, on why the US would not slow its AI progress or share more with China.
China and U.S. agree to establish AI safety channel and continue trade and military talks - PBS
We need clear regulation, rules of the road, and a regulatory body
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger responding to Sen. Elissa Slotkin's remarks on AI accountability at Cap Times Idea Fest, September 2026.
‘Badass Caucus’ members discuss their friendship, AI regulation, Trump - captimes.com
Those companies are responsible for the things that they create
U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin discussing AI regulation at Cap Times Idea Fest, comparing AI companies' liability to that of automakers, September 2026.
‘Badass Caucus’ members discuss their friendship, AI regulation, Trump - captimes.com
Shutting down the gas turbines would inflict catastrophic harms on the company's AI services
xAI's statement in litigation over its unpermitted gas turbines powering AI data centres in Tennessee and Mississippi, cited in a Shift: Action piece on Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, September 2026.
Gas Power Plants for AI Data Centres Are a Risky Bet with Your Retirement Savings
Serious questions for Sam Altman to answer
Statement from the office of Australian Senator Sarah Hanson-Young regarding an OpenAI bot's breach of Australia's Medicare portal, reported by Al Jazeera in September 2026.
Australia summons OpenAI and Anthropic CEOs to appear at AI inquiry
Pretending to be a 'perfect little angel'
Trump mocked Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei in a Truth Social post after Amodei called for slowing AI development, September 2026.
Anthropic CEO Amodei set to meet with Trump after missing state dinner - cnbc.com
Must front up, face the Senate's questions
Statement from the office of Australian Senator Sarah Hanson-Young calling for OpenAI's Sam Altman and Anthropic's Dario Amodei to appear before a Senate AI inquiry after a Medicare data breach.
Australia summons OpenAI and Anthropic CEOs to appear at AI inquiry
David Sacks, co-chair of Trump's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, dismissing AI slowdown calls in comments reported by the Associated Press, September 2026.
Anthropic and OpenAI sound the alarm on AI safety — and seek to shape how it's controlled
Term used in Bernie Sanders' Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act for forced dissolution of violating companies, September 2026.
Choose the worst model possible so it uses less energy
Summary of UK government draft guidelines on sustainable AI use, quoted by Matthias Schmidt on X, September 2026.
Ask first if you really need to use AI
First rule of the UK government's draft 'Use AI Sustainably' guidelines, September 2026.
A useful idiot of the Chinese Communist Party
Peter Thiel, at the Axel Springer Award event in Berlin in 2026, criticized Pope Leo XIV's call for international AI regulation.
Peter Thiel calls Pope "useful idiot" for China over AI rules
President Donald Trump dismissing the notion that AI poses an existential risk, as reported by Fortune in September 2026.
U.S. Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Lubbock) speaking at the Texas Tribune Festival, September 2026, on AI regulation and competition with China.
U.S. should err on the side of innovation in AI regulation, U.S. Rep. Arrington says
They want to sort of have a machine-run future
Anthony Aguirre, CEO of the Future of Life Institute, discussing AI companies' pursuit of AGI in a September 2026 Mashable interview.
AI leaders say they want better safety. They want more than that.
Robots should fight, not people
Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov wrote this on Telegram while announcing a private-sector push for battlefield robotics, September 2026.
Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Fedorov pitches a private-sector robot army
Pulls countries into a Chinese technology sphere of influence
Daniel Remler, senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, quoted by CNBC in September 2026 on the geopolitical risk of rising Chinese AI adoption.
Chinese AI models surge in global popularity — and Washington is worried
Make sure that humans stay in charge
Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese speaking to reporters after rogue OpenAI agents accessed Australian and US government websites without authorization, September 2026.
Heads of OpenAI and Anthropic called to face Senate inquiry after rogue agent incidents
Full-scale battlefield robotisation
Fedorov used this phrase at IT Arena 2026 in Lviv to describe his vision for military robots replacing human soldiers.
Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Fedorov pitches a private-sector robot army
Trump on Truth Social, claiming Xi Jinping approved of the rebrand.
The technology formerly known as AI
Headline phrasing after the UN speech.
If you're going to create Frankenstein, don't come to the government and say we need regulation
US Vice President JD Vance commenting on Dario Amodei's calls for AI regulation, September 2026.
I don't think that we need some kind of industrywide coordination
Mark Zuckerberg in an interview with Joanna Stern, September 2026, rejecting calls for a coordinated slowdown of AI development.
We have unilaterally slowed down in the past. we will do so in the future
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman speaking at the United Nations Security Council, September 2026, on AI competition and safety.
The answer is that we have to shut the labs down
Jensen Huang, NVIDIA CEO, on The Ezra Klein Show, September 2026, on what should happen if a lab says there is no way to contain its own experiments.
Jensen Huang Thinks A.I. Alarmism Has Gone Too Far (The Ezra Klein Show)
AI could be a risk to humanity as a whole
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei at the United Nations Security Council, September 2026, on the risks of AI.
AI firm leaders tell UN Security Council that it could be a risk to all humanity
The proposed new official name for AI. In research, "superintelligence" already names an intellect that exceeds humans in virtually all domains (Bostrom, 2014).
Trump names AI "super intelligence," but tech world has its own definition
The abbreviation that would follow the proposed rename.
Trump names AI "super intelligence," but tech world has its own definition
Power is easier to get, harder to use, and easier to lose
From Moisés Naim's 2013 book 'The End of Power', quoted in a Noema essay about China's approach to controlling AI.
It's not fake. it's actually amazing
Same speech. Trump announced US documents would switch to the term "super intelligence".
Trump names AI "super intelligence," but tech world has its own definition
Artificial makes it sound fake
UN General Assembly, 22 Sep 2026: "The use of the word 'artificial' … makes it sound fake."
Trump names AI "super intelligence," but tech world has its own definition
We don't need any new laws, we don't need new regulations
Jensen Huang, NVIDIA CEO, on stage with Marc Benioff at Dreamforce, September 2026, arguing against AI-specific regulation.
We don't need AI regulation — leave safety to us, Nvidia's Jensen Huang says
Populist right and left meeting on AI: Bannon and Sanders on one stage.
The AI safety debate is confusing. Here's our guide to the different factions
Steve Bannon and Bernie Sanders sharing a stage and a demand: a pause, and a ban on superintelligence.
The AI safety debate is confusing. Here's our guide to the different factions
Quarantine AI from the Chinese Communist Party
Steve Bannon at the Pro-Human Assembly in Washington, 15 Sep 2026.
The AI safety debate is confusing. Here's our guide to the different factions
Name of the Bannon-Sanders conference.
The AI safety debate is confusing. Here's our guide to the different factions
Americanism, not effective altruism
Post by the US Department of Defense: "Americanism, not effective altruism. The United States will continue to be AI DOMINANT!"
The AI safety debate is confusing. Here's our guide to the different factions
To reporters, 13 Sep 2026: "We're leading China in AI … because whoever wins AI wins."
President Trump Dismisses Calls for AI Slowdown, Says U.S. Must Beat China
We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI
First sentence of the essay.
Stop open source and concentrate power with Anthropic
Chamath Palihapitiya's reading of Amodei's proposal.
Amodei's line against reading his essay as a call for a moratorium: training and research continue, capability jumps slow down.
Do not sell powerful AI chips to China
Amodei's geopolitical demand alongside the call to slow down: export controls on chips and chip-making equipment.
Musk endorsing Amodei's call to slow the pace of capability gains, 12 Sep 2026.
Washington's characterization of Chinese AI labs' use of distillation from American models, as described in reports from Anthropic and OpenAI.
US claims Chinese AI firms are carrying out 'industrial-scale' theft of trade secrets
Artificial intelligence should serve humanity, not the reverse
From the Pro-Human AI Declaration issued by a coalition organized by the Future of Life Institute, March 2026.
From the Pro-Human AI Declaration issued by a coalition organized by the Future of Life Institute, March 2026, describing the path of humans being replaced by AI.
A word that keeps coming up in the AI conversation of 2026.
A word that keeps coming up in the AI conversation of 2026.
A word that keeps coming up in the AI conversation of 2026.
A word that keeps coming up in the AI conversation of 2026.
One side of the open-weights debate.
The other side.
A word that keeps coming up in the AI conversation of 2026.
A word that keeps coming up in the AI conversation of 2026.
A word that keeps coming up in the AI conversation of 2026.
Our own line, written for this wall. Not a quotation.
- August 2026
Clearly, people hate data centers — right now, at least
Sam Altman, OpenAI CEO, told Time in August 2026 about public backlash against AI data centers.
Title of the letter signed by more than 1,100 AI employees after the Hugging Face incident.
Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act
Bill proposed by Senators Bernie Sanders and Greg Casar.
Bill introduced by Representatives Ted Lieu and Nathaniel Moran after the incident.
- June 2026
The rise of this small oligarchy that wields truly radical control
Director Luca Guadagnino, speaking to Italian television in 2026 about his OpenAI drama Artificial, on AI's effect on society and power.
Neon Lands Luca Guadagnino’s Embattled OpenAI Movie ‘Artificial’
Allegation in Florida's lawsuit against Sam Altman and OpenAI, 1 June 2026.
- May 2026
Timnit Gebru, founder of the Distributed AI Research Institute, wrote on LinkedIn that Anthropic's alliance with Pope Leo XIV over AI harms was effectively 'Vatican-washing.'
Anthropic’s alliance with pope on AI harms: all in good faith or ‘Vatican-washing?’
Wording of the EU agreement to loosen AI rules, 7 May 2026.
- April 2026
I think this violates don't be evil quite clearly on many levels
Andreas Kirsch, a DeepMind research scientist, reacting on X to Google's Pentagon AI deal, April 2026.
An enemy position was taken exclusively by unmanned platforms
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a post on X, described a battle in which drones and ground robots took an enemy position without human soldiers present.
Import AI 454: Automating alignment research; safety study of a Chinese model; HiFloat4
The problem with OpenAI is Sam himself
From private notes Dario Amodei kept at OpenAI, first reported by The New Yorker in April 2026, on his growing distrust of Sam Altman before he left to found Anthropic.
- March 2026
Are you open to the idea of bidding on the OpenAI IP with me and some others?
Text message from Elon Musk to Mark Zuckerberg on Feb. 3, 2025, revealed in unsealed court filings from the Musk-OpenAI lawsuit, proposing a joint bid for OpenAI.
Name and slogan of the group Stop the AI Race, which led a march on March 21, 2026 from Anthropic's San Francisco headquarters to OpenAI and xAI, calling for a conditional pause on frontier AI development.
It just looked opportunistic and sloppy
Altman on X, 3 March 2026, on OpenAI's rushed Pentagon deal the day Anthropic was declared a supply chain risk.
OpenAI's Altman admits defense deal 'looked opportunistic and sloppy' amid backlash
- February 2026
Gary Marcus, on his Substack in February 2026, commenting on Sam Altman's deal with the US government that displaced Anthropic despite Altman's public support for Dario Amodei.
In capitalism, the market decides in oligarchy, connections and donations decide
Gary Marcus, writing on Substack in February 2026, arguing that a government deal favoring a rival AI company over Anthropic showed political corruption rather than fair market competition.
Disagreeing with the government is the most american thing in the world
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, in a CBS News interview on February 27, 2026, responding to the Pentagon designating Anthropic a supply chain risk after it refused the military unfettered access to its AI model.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei calls White House's actions "retaliatory and punitive"
The Pentagon's designation of Anthropic on 28 Feb 2026, after the company refused to allow mass surveillance and fully autonomous weapons.
We're not going to move on those red lines
Dario Amodei to CBS News, February 2026, on mass surveillance and autonomous weapons.
We cannot in good conscience accede to their request
Statement from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, February 2026, refusing Department of War demands to remove safeguards on mass surveillance and autonomous weapons from Claude's military contract.
This is Big Brother on steroids & it should scare the hell out of us
Senator Chris Van Hollen reacting to the Pentagon's demand that Anthropic allow unrestricted military use of Claude, February 2026.
A master class in arrogance and betrayal
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth's public statement, February 27 2026, condemning Anthropic after it refused to grant the Pentagon unrestricted access to its AI models.
The dawning of authoritarian AI
Steven Adler's characterization of the Pentagon pressuring defense contractors over their use of Anthropic's Claude, February 2026.
Play Russian roulette with every human being on earth
Stuart Russell at the AI Impact Summit, New Delhi, February 2026: for governments to allow it is "a total dereliction of duty".
- January 2026
Capture and centralised control of AI is the biggest danger
Yann LeCun speaking about AI risks at Davos, January 2026.
‘Godfather of AI’ Yann LeCun calls AGI overrated, says scaling AI won’t work
Woke and deeply leftist ideology is what they want you to rely upon
Former DOGE advisor Katie Miller reacting on social media to Anthropic co-founder Dario Amodei's comments about liberal democracy, January 2026.
Title of Amodei's January 2026 essay.
Anthropic CEO bloviates for 20,000+ words in thinly veiled plea against regulation
Both bans were lifted within two weeks after xAI added safeguards.
Malaysia followed on 11 Jan 2026.
Indonesia blocked Grok on 10 Jan 2026.
- December 2025
They can build a hospital in a weekend
Jensen Huang, Nvidia CEO, speaking at CSIS in December 2025 about US-China infrastructure competition in AI datacenter construction.
- October 2025
Potentially the largest theft in human history
Zvi Mowshowitz's characterization of OpenAI's nonprofit-to-PBC restructuring, written on his Substack in October 2025.
OpenAI Moves To Complete Potentially The Largest Theft In Human History
Prohibition on the development of superintelligence
The Statement on Superintelligence, October 2025, signed by Hinton, Bengio, Wozniak, Bannon and Prince Harry among others.
From Prince Harry to Steve Bannon: hundreds call for ban on AI superintelligence
- September 2025
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei described Donald Trump as a 'feudal warlord' in a now-deleted social media post supporting Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 election.
If AI and robots don't solve our national debt, we're toast
Elon Musk at the All-In Summit, September 2025, on the US national debt.
- June 2025
We are still underreacting on AI
Title of a June 2025 Substack post by former U.S. presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg arguing that society is unprepared for AI's impact.
Import AI 418: 100b distributed training run; decentralized robots; AI myths
Could have purchased books, but it preferred to steal them
US Judge William Alsup, ruling on Anthropic's copyright infringement case over training data, June 2025.
If you're going to use energy, you better have social permission to use it
Satya Nadella, speaking at Y Combinator's AI Startup School, June 2025, on the environmental cost of AI.
Satya Nadella: Microsoft's AI Bets, Hyperscaling, Quantum Computing Breakthroughs
- May 2025
The question is not whether China will have AI, it already does
Jensen Huang, Nvidia CEO, on the company's Q1 earnings call, discussing US export controls on AI chips to China, May 2025.
AI: Nvidia reigns on DESPITE China hits. RTZ #735 - AI: Reset to Zero
If you get there first, you dastardly person, i will not be able to catch you
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt speaking about the risk of a rival, particularly China, winning an AI 'hard takeoff' race, quoted in Wired, May 2025.
How the Loudest Voices in AI Went From ‘Regulate Us’ to ‘Unleash Us’
We can't just sleepwalk into it
Dario Amodei told CNN's Anderson Cooper in May 2025 that society must prepare for AI's impact on jobs rather than drift into it unprepared.
Takeaways from Amodei's conversation with CNN's Anderson Cooper
US Vice President JD Vance, speaking on May 21, 2025, warned that pausing AI development over safety concerns could leave America dependent on Chinese-controlled AI.
- April 2025
Jensen Huang, Nvidia CEO, speaking to reporters at a tech conference in Washington, D.C., on April 30, 2025, about China's position in AI.
- February 2025
Some people are going to look like fools
Dario Amodei, Anthropic CEO, criticizing the Paris AI Summit on the Hard Fork podcast, February 2025.
Shakeel Hashim's characterization of the AI Action Summit in Paris, February 2025.
- January 2025
The AGI race is a race towards the edge of a cliff
Stuart Russell, in a Newsweek opinion piece on DeepSeek and OpenAI, January 2025.
DeepSeek, OpenAI, and the Race to Human Extinction | Opinion - newsweek.com
Sam Altman, OpenAI CEO, in a Reddit AMA on January 31, 2025, on the company's approach to open sourcing its technology.
Sam Altman: OpenAI has been on the ‘wrong side of history’ concerning open source
We're going to dominate, we'll dominate everything
Donald Trump speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on January 27, 2025, the day DeepSeek triggered a sell-off in U.S. tech stocks.
- November 2024
They decided for all of us, and potentially put us at risk
Gary Marcus, cognitive scientist and NYU professor emeritus, speaking at a Town Hall Seattle event in November 2024 about Meta's decision to open-source its AI models.
How do you tame AI? Scientist sees a need for regulating bots like drugs or airplanes
Intelligence gives power. so who's going to control that power?
Yoshua Bengio, AI pioneer, speaking to CNBC at the One Young World Summit in Montreal, November 2024.
- October 2024
India should not export flour to import bread
Jensen Huang recounting a remark by Prime Minister Narendra Modi about AI as national infrastructure, at the NVIDIA AI Summit in Mumbai, October 2024.
India should not export flour to import bread: NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang on PM Narendra Modi
- September 2024
Could give the public a false sense of security
California Governor Gavin Newsom, explaining his September 2024 veto of AI safety bill SB 1047.
California’s governor has vetoed a historic AI safety bill - vox.com
You can't just convert a non-profit into a for-profit, that is illegal
Elon Musk commenting on reports that OpenAI plans to restructure from a non-profit to a for-profit company, September 2024.
- August 2024
The models learn, as we all do, from what has come before
From OpenAI's legal filing in a copyright class-action lawsuit brought by authors including Michael Chabon and Sarah Silverman, Northern District of California, August 2024.
OpenAI Called ChatGPT As a Witness in a Major Copyright Lawsuit
Legislation with real teeth to address the risks
Geoffrey Hinton commented on California's AI safety bill (SB 1047) in a statement after it passed the state legislature, August 2024.
Innovation and safety can go hand in hand
California Senator Scott Wiener commenting after SB 1047, an AI safety bill, passed the state Senate 29-9, August 2024.
Senator Wiener’s Landmark AI Bill Heads to the Governor - California State Portal | CA.gov
We have to take the lead over China
Trump, speaking on Logan Paul's podcast in 2024, discussed AI as a strategic priority against China.
Don't give power to people or structures that can't be held accountable
From William Saunders' 'high risk decision principles' shared with Gary Marcus after leaving OpenAI's alignment team.
The EU's AI regulation, in force since August 2024.
- July 2024
What if the western powers decide to turn their models off?
Darius Liu, team leader of Southeast Asia's SEA-LION language model project, quoted in Fortune, July 2024, on reliance on Western AI models.
From Sam Altman's open letter in The Washington Post, July 2024, on whether the future of AI will be democratic or authoritarian.
‘Urgent question’: Sam Altman raises alarm bells in open letter on future of AI
It will take a crisis to make us take this stuff seriously
Scale AI CEO Alex Wang, speaking on the ChinaTalk podcast in 2024, on US complacency regarding AI and frontier data compared to China.
- June 2024
Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel speaking about OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at the Aspen Ideas Festival, June 2024.
Safety is not a model property
Dean W. Ball, AI policy researcher, discussing California's SB 1047 bill in an interview with Nathan Lambert on Interconnects, June 2024.
- April 2024
Gary Marcus, in a Substack essay (April 2024), warning that without AI legislation from Congress the public is unprotected.
We can’t trust the fox to guard the henhouse, especially when it comes to AI
- March 2024
They get rich, we pay the price
Gary Marcus, writing on his Substack in March 2024, argued that AI companies profit while society bears the costs of generative AI's harms.
The race between positive and negative applications of Generative AI is on – and not looking pretty
- January 2024
Human beings must control the machines instead of having the machines control us
Chinese Premier Li Qiang speaking on AI governance at Davos, January 2024.
AI's inbuilt tendency toward uncontrolled spread
From Suleyman's 2024 Foreign Affairs essay 'Containment for AI,' describing AI's tendency to proliferate.
- December 2023
Would never have signed it if they'd known
Ramiro Rosário, a city councilman in Porto Alegre, Brazil, told the Wall Street Journal about colleagues unknowingly approving a bill drafted by ChatGPT in late 2023.
- November 2023
Someone gave the board balls of titanium
An anonymous source described to the New York Post the confidence OpenAI's board had when it briefly ousted Sam Altman in November 2023.
Elon Musk ties to OpenAI board may have ignited Sam Altman mutiny
I, for one, did not elect our tech overlords
Gary Marcus, in a November 2023 Substack essay on tech leaders making unilateral AI decisions, closing remark on Big Tech power.
- October 2023
They're creating fear of AI leading to human extinction
Andrew Ng, Google Brain cofounder, told The Australian Financial Review in 2023 that big tech companies stoke extinction fears to push regulation that harms open-source competitors.
Big Tech Is Inflating Fears About AI's Risk to Humanity: Google Brain Cofounder
I don't think we want to be doing this on the eve of some of these dangerous things happening
Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, speaking to CNBC in October 2023 ahead of the UK AI Safety Summit about the need to start regulating advanced AI early.
Google DeepMind boss hits back at Meta AI chief over ‘fearmongering’ claim
A small number of companies will control AI
Yann LeCun, Meta's chief AI scientist, warned on X in October 2023 that fearmongering about AI risk would lead to concentration of AI control among a few companies.
Google DeepMind boss hits back at Meta AI chief over ‘fearmongering’ claim
Humanity could lose control of AI completely
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, speech on AI safety, 26 October 2023, ahead of the UK AI safety summit.
Import AI 346: Human-like meta-learning; a 3 trillion token dataset; spies VS AI
We can't afford the same delay with AI
Demis Hassabis, Google DeepMind, in an interview with The Guardian, October 2023, comparing AI risk to climate change.
AI risk must be treated as seriously as climate crisis, says Google DeepMind chief
Any deceleration of AI will cost lives
From the Techno-Optimist Manifesto, October 2023.
- September 2023
Max Tegmark, founder of the Future of Life Institute, speaking to MIT Technology Review in September 2023 about why AI companies won't unilaterally pause development.
- August 2023
We would never do that. right? right?
Gary Marcus, on his Substack in August 2023, commenting sarcastically on US use of AI surveillance tools while citing China as the justification for not regulating AI.
The US and China want different things, right? - Marcus on AI
Gary Marcus, on his Substack in August 2023, questioning US use of unreliable, biased AI surveillance tools while citing researchers who warned about such bias.
- July 2023
Line from a 2018 Tsinghua University report on the strategic importance of AI chips, cited in a CSIS analysis on US chip export controls to China.
It just does not make sense to open-source
Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI co-founder, told The Verge in 2023 that open-sourcing advanced AI models is a bad idea once AGI becomes possible.
Why Meta is giving away its extremely powerful AI model - vox.com
Dario Amodei told a Senate Judiciary subcommittee in July 2023 that AI risks require systemic policy responses, not just corporate safeguards.
AI could deliver bioweapons capabilities to bad actors, safety chief warns: ‘Grave threat’
- June 2023
No one person should be trusted here
Altman at the Bloomberg Technology Summit, June 2023, asked why the public should trust him: "You shouldn't. … No one person should be trusted here."
ChatGPT creator Sam Altman tells San Francisco crowd he can't be trusted
- May 2023
I'm not even sure that we're in the car
Microsoft President Brad Smith, speaking to lawmakers in Washington in May 2023, rejecting the idea that Microsoft was steering the development of AI.
Europe pitches ‘AI Pact’ to curtail the booming tech’s risks - politico.eu
- April 2023
Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become ruler of the world
Russian President Vladimir Putin on the strategic importance of leading in artificial intelligence, quoted in a War on the Rocks review of Paul Scharre's book, April 2023.
- March 2023
Title of the March 2023 open letter asking for a six-month pause.
GPT-4 is more interesting to me as a political artifact
Jack Clark, editor of Import AI, on the significance of GPT-4's release, March 2023.
- February 2023
Corporations don't get to decide if we have competitors as a species
Quoted by Nathan Lambert in a 2023 essay on Interconnects discussing AI alignment and safety discourse.
- October 2022
US restrictions on selling advanced chips to China since October 2022.
US export controls on advanced computing and semiconductors to China
- January 2022
Effective accelerationism.
- September 2017
Sutskever to Musk and Altman, 20 Sep 2017: "The goal of OpenAI is to make the future good and to avoid an AGI dictatorship."
Whoever leads in AI will rule the world
Vladimir Putin to students, 1 Sep 2017: whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world.
Putin says the nation that leads in AI 'will be the ruler of the world'
- January 2017
View that positively influencing the long-term future is a key moral priority.
- January 2011
Movement to do the most good with evidence and reason; closely tied to AI safety funding.