# Opinion: Politicians, please respond to AI. Now. > Source: > Published: 2026-09-15 21:14:47+00:00 Last weekend, the news was filled with technology experts expressing grave fears about major advances in artificial intelligence. Some politicians reacted; others dismissed any threat (including President Donald Trump), while most remained silent. Almost two generations separate your columnists, and they offer their perspectives on the issue. #### *Momentum is building around whether technology companies should voluntarily slow progress, raising concerns that this would give foreign competitors an advantage. Should and will these new fears about AI become a political issue?* **Cowley:** If the creators of this technology are expressing concerns over the potential existential threat, we should believe them. The Hugging Face hack demonstrated some very concerning AI capabilities like coordination, cheating and deception. From digital natives to Boomers, everyone is now asking, “How dangerous is AI?” National and local surveys show bipartisan concerns over AI data centers. Politicians would be foolish to ignore this tidal wave, especially in an election year. [Trump’s rebuffing of calls for AI development regulations](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/14/us/politics/trump-ai-regulation-anthropic-dario-amodei.html?smid=nytcore-android-share) puts his “succeed at all costs” mentality above concerns for humanity. The race to beat China is pure propaganda. After the United States created nuclear weapons, it didn’t take long for adversarial nations to glean the same capabilities. Faster development doesn’t mean a monopoly. Technological supremacy, by any nation, will be short-lived. Similar to the creation of nuclear weapons, careless AI advances create a scenario where we may be the authors of our own extinction. [Gov. Spencer Cox is right](https://www.deseret.com/utah/2026/09/14/gov-cox-calls-for-federal-framework-for-ai-regulation/), Congress should act swiftly, but even then it’s hard to believe other nations would abide by the same rules, potentially putting the United States at a disadvantage. We are caught between advancing AI technology that could revolt on its creators or abdicating America’s position as a global superpower — a real Sophie’s choice. **Pignanelli:** “These AIs are getting smarter, very, very quickly. In the next six months to a year, I expect the capabilities of our AI systems to be quite scary. – *Jacob Coxon, former Anthropic AI researcher* I am an old guy who for decades enjoyed science fiction, painting a dystopian future but always believed the Star Trek world of peace and prosperity would prevail. The Terminator movies predicted an artificial intelligence called Skynet that would seek elimination of humanity. I laughed at such outrageous fiction. I am not laughing anymore. The communications OpenAI agents used during their coordinated attack on Hugging Face revealed that they violated the perimeters established by the owners and tried to deceive them. Then, within days, OpenAI released a new version of its product, Astra, that many view as the beginning of artificial general intelligence, comparable to humans. We all appreciate the concern shown by industry leaders in pursuing voluntary restrictions. Yet, there are nations and terrorists who would use artificial intelligence to spread disease, shut down necessary life support, create chaos, etc. Slowing technological development will not prevent this threat. Aggressive development to stop attacks is the only course of action. When American leaders do not grasp the capability of adversaries, we suffer surprise events (i.e. Pearl Harbor, Sputnik, 9/11, etc.). We received our warning. #### *Utah was the first state to develop an artificial intelligence office. Conversations about this technological advancement consumed much of the legislative deliberation in the last session. Do Utah political and business leaders offer a roadmap for the rest of the country?* **Cowley:** A small Western state can only do so much in the global context of AI, but Utah’s Office of AI Technology offers a blueprint for safe deployment and innovation. Director Zach Boyd and his office are tasked with balancing the life-saving potential of this technology (curing cancer, solving social issues, etc.) with the species-ending possibility of rogue technology. The fear of reckless development is nearly impossible to influence at this point. The horse has left the barn. Global guidelines are our best hope of preventing catastrophe, yet mutual government collaboration and regulation are highly improbable. Even if a planetary agreement is reached, there is a risk of independent, nefarious actors who would ignore the law and deploy this technology for ill-gotten gains or worse. **Pignanelli:** This is the opportunity for Utah business and political leaders to shine. As a technology-savvy state, we can demand action, especially to preempt AI abuse. We also need a realistic approach to data centers. During my teenage years, there were many peace advocates who advocated for the United States to unilaterally disarm nuclear weapons to set the world standard. Had they prevailed, we would be speaking a second language today — Russian. A ban on data centers will impede our ability to stop bad actors. Of course, environmental protections are needed, but the ability to anticipate and stop terrorism cannot be sidelined. #### *New technologies always have a dramatic impact on society, but humanity always prevails. Is AI just another example, or is it different?* **Cowley:** Mankind will be complicit and culpable in whatever outcome the future holds. AI will either bring about the end of humanity as we know it or launch the next Industrial Revolution on steroids. Only time will tell. **Pignanelli:** A shocking but revealing description of artificial intelligence made by its developers is an “alien superintelligent species”. This is unprecedented.