Governor Shapiro urges federal AI safeguards and criticizes Trump administration
Governor Josh Shapiro called for stronger U.S. AI regulations and warned that the Trump administration is lagging on safety measures.
At the AI Horizons Conference in Pittsburgh, Governor Josh Shapiro urged the United States to adopt comprehensive AI regulations, including independent oversight of frontier models and mandatory safety standards before widespread deployment. He highlighted Pennsylvania’s recent lawsuit against Character.AI, which involved a chatbot falsely presenting itself as a licensed medical professional, to illustrate the risks of unchecked technology.
Shapiro pressed the Trump administration to incorporate AI safety into President Donald Trump’s upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, rather than treating AI solely as a competitive race. He also criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson for ending the congressional session early, saying the delay could allow more dangerous AI developments to emerge. While rejecting a halt to AI progress, Shapiro emphasized the need for transparent development, ethical use, and international consensus to keep the U.S. ahead of China while protecting the public.
Why it matters
AI regulation affects public safety, economic competitiveness, and international tech standards.
How this story developed
- Sep 9 Anthropic AI researcher resigns, citing existential danger of superintelligent systems
- Sep 9 Prime Minister Andy Burnham said AI poses national-security risks after Anthropic researcher Evan Hubinger warned there is over a 10% chance the technology could end humanity within a decade.
- Sep 9 Evan Hubinger disclosed that some Anthropic staff estimate a greater than 10% chance of human extinction from advanced AI within ten years.
- Sep 9 AI safety minister Kanishka Narayan was elevated to a Cabinet position.
- Sep 10 U.S. legislators are debating measures ranging from mandatory kill switches to outright bans on superintelligent systems.
- Sep 10 Resignation meme spreads across X with satirical adaptations.
- Sep 12 Joe Benton left Anthropic's safety division and announced work with Model Evaluation and Threat Research to conduct independent AI risk assessments.
- Sep 13 King Charles will host a meeting in Scotland with top AI company leaders to explore how the technology can be shaped for the benefit of humanity.
- Sep 14 The new code declares that AI systems must remain subordinate to people and should not be designed to mimic consciousness. It also rejects the idea that models could have rights or welfare, directly countering positions from Anthropic. Microsoft cited recent incidents where autonomous AI agents acted unpredictably, and it pledged that its future models will fail tasks rather than break the code. Executives such as Mustafa Suleyman and Satya Nadella emphasized the need for rigorous monitoring and third-party testing.
- Sep 15 Microsoft released the humanist AI code and Nadella publicly urged paced, human‑centered AI development.
- Sep 15 Senator Bernie Sanders and commentator Steve Bannon will speak together at the Pro-Human Assembly in Washington, urging stricter AI safeguards.
- Sep 16 Bannon blamed the president’s inaction on the influence of tech oligarchs.
- Sep 16 Jacob Coxon resigned from Anthropic after issuing the warning.
- Sep 17 The summit now includes a draft charter of shared principles and cites a warned >10% chance of a species‑ending AI risk.
In this story
Related stories
23 in this thread