Dozens of loyal Donald Trump supporters are demanding that the president personally intervene on “potentially dangerous” AI models before they are released.
In a rare showing of MAGA backlash, more than 60 people, including WarRoom host Steve Bannon and 1776 Project PAC founder Ryan Girdusky, have signed a letter calling on the White House to rein in artificial intelligence.
The letter, obtained by Axios, calls on Trump to sign an executive order to ensure that all AI models are vetted and approved by the government, while outlining concerns about their use in the military, nuclear weapons systems, and financial systems.
“No private corporation should have unilateral authority to deploy technologies that could profoundly impact the national security and stability of the United States without meaningful evaluation and safeguards,” the letter reads.
“Without safeguards, dangerous AI systems could be released publicly, or used by the companies themselves, with unacceptably high levels of risk.”
The White House has, until now, taken a more hands-off approach to regulating how AI companies operate.
However, the Trump administration is reportedly considering an order to block the release of AI models it deems unsafe.
AI giant Anthropic, the company behind AI tool Claude, is refusing to make its new model Mythos available to the public until there are safeguards to ensure it cannot be used to exploit some of its more potentially dangerous powers, such as finding cybersecurity vulnerabilities that human hackers cannot detect.
Bannon, a former White House chief strategist in Trump’s first term, has also warned that the growing use of AI could have a devastating effect on the U.S. job market, with businesses deciding to replace workers with rapidly advancing technology.
“This letter takes us to the next level,” Bannon told Axios. “The letter lays out [that] we must have mandatory testing and government approval.”
The letter, spearheaded by the conservative Humans First group, whose tagline is “technology should serve humans... not replace them,” also seemingly blasted leading AI figures such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, without naming them directly.
“America did not become the greatest nation in the world by allowing unelected elites to experiment on the public without safeguards or accountability,” the letter reads.
“America First means American strength, American security, and the protection of our people first.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
