{"slug": "obama-harris-call-for-ai-slowdown", "title": "Obama, Harris call for AI slowdown", "summary": "Former U.S. President Barack Obama and former Vice President Kamala Harris called for stronger oversight and a slowdown in artificial intelligence development, following a proposal by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei that was backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Elon Musk. Obama wrote on X that he was \"encouraged this week to see the leaders of the frontier labs agree on the need for them to slow down the pace of AI development,\" while Harris said \"a slowdown is critical in order to ensure AI serves the public interest\" and urged Congress to pass new laws and create a federal body to independently test advanced AI systems. President Donald Trump rejected the calls, describing fears that AI could threaten humanity as a \"HOAX\" and warning that tighter restrictions could undermine US technological leadership.", "body_md": "# Obama, Harris call for AI slowdown\n\nFormer U.S. President Barack Obama and former Vice President Kamala Harris have called for stronger oversight of artificial intelligence as industry leaders warn about the pace of its development, reports a [Qazinform](https://qazinform.com/) News Agency correspondent.\n\n```\n“I was encouraged this week to see the leaders of the frontier labs agree on the need for them to slow down the pace of AI development,” Obama wrote on X. He described the move as a necessary first step but said decisions about AI’s future should be part of a wider public debate.\n```\n\nIn a separate statement, Obama urged leaders in Washington to develop laws addressing safety, jobs and children, while ensuring the technology’s benefits are widely shared. He said AI could deliver breakthroughs in medicine, energy and education, but its impact would depend on decisions made now.\n\n```\n“The frontier of artificial intelligence is advancing at an alarming speed,” Harris wrote on X. “A slowdown is critical in order to ensure AI serves the public interest.”\n```\n\nHarris called on Congress to pass new laws and establish a federal body to oversee and independently test advanced AI systems. She also urged international cooperation on safety standards, while saying the United States should continue to lead in developing the technology.\n\nThe calls follow a proposal by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei to slow AI development, backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Elon Musk.\n\nPresident Donald Trump has rejected the calls, describing fears that AI could threaten humanity as a “HOAX” and warning that tighter restrictions could undermine US technological leadership.\n\nEarlier, [Qazinform](https://qazinform.com/) News Agency [reported](https://qazinform.com/news/trump-dismisses-ai-fears-amid-china-race-96d296) that US President Donald Trump had dismissed growing warnings about the risks of artificial intelligence, stressing that Washington must maintain its technological lead over China.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/obama-harris-call-for-ai-slowdown", "canonical_source": "https://qazinform.com/news/obama-harris-call-for-ai-slowdown-8bd1bf", "published_at": "2026-09-15 10:13:00+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-15 10:39:29.204343+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy", "ai-safety", "artificial-intelligence"], "entities": ["Barack Obama", "Kamala Harris", "Donald Trump", "Dario Amodei", "Anthropic", "OpenAI", "Sam Altman", "Elon Musk"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/obama-harris-call-for-ai-slowdown", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/obama-harris-call-for-ai-slowdown.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/obama-harris-call-for-ai-slowdown.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/obama-harris-call-for-ai-slowdown.jsonld"}}