House Speaker Mike Johnson is urging executive leaders from top artificial intelligence companies to meet with Congress and White House officials to negotiate safety legislation.
Addressing elevated concerns regarding advanced technology during a television appearance on Sunday, Johnson pointed to public warnings that powerful models could present an end of humanity threat.
He emphasized the urgency of bipartisan action by stating, “We have to do this right, safely and wisely”.
The speaker explained that federal leaders must evaluate national risks while working to “figure out what the right balance is”.
Despite growing anxiety surrounding rapid technological expansion, Johnson firmly rejected proposals that would pause development across the domestic sector.
He cautioned that halting domestic progress would allow foreign adversaries to surpass American capabilities, highlighting national security trade-offs by warning, “We cannot put a moratorium on this because China will overlap us”.
The speaker framed the core challenge as maintaining “national security balanced with the immediate security of making sure the models are safe”.
His public push for safety standards followed direct pressure from House Democrats, who urged him two days earlier to address what they described as a “catastrophic risk posed by advanced artificial intelligence”.