Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has criticized the artificial intelligence industry for spending more than $300 million to oppose candidates who support stronger regulation. In a post on X on Tuesday, Sanders cited a statistic indicating that 81% of Americans believe Congress is not doing enough to regulate AI.
The Vermont senator argued that the industry's political spending is undermining public demand for oversight. He urged lawmakers to resist pressure from powerful technology companies, stating, "Tell Congress to stand up to Big Tech Oligarchs. Regulate AI."
The article notes that earlier this month, actor George Clooney questioned whether lawmakers were equipped to regulate AI, warning that they are "not the people that you want to entrust the holy grail with." Clooney also highlighted risks associated with AI-generated falsehoods, fabricated legal information, and deepfakes.
In addition to the regulatory debate, the article highlights recent significant funding rounds in the AI sector. Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) reportedly backed a $300 million loan for AI infrastructure startup Crusoe to help it secure financing for deploying AMD chips. Salesforce Inc. (NYSE: CRM) planned to spend about $300 million on Anthropic’s AI for coding, while PhysicsX raised an oversubscribed $300 million Series C at a valuation of about $2.4 billion.
