‘Alarming pace’: Barack Obama and Kamala Harris join the call to regulate artificial intelligence

Former president Barack Obama and former vice president Kamala Harris are among the latest high-profile voices in the Democratic Party to have called for a greater government role in regulating artificial intelligence.

In a statement on Monday, Obama said the U.S. government must draft concrete proposals, laws and regulations to address concerns about safety, AI’s impact on jobs and on children, and to guarantee that the benefits of the technology are widely distributed.

According to him, artificial intelligence cannot be “put in a box,” but society can determine the way it is developed and used, instead of waiting for its consequences.

The debate on AI regulation has intensified in recent days, while several politicians and industry leaders have called for stronger measures and a slowdown of the technology’s development. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has described concerns about artificial intelligence as a “hoax” and part of a “sick conspiracy.”

Obama also called on Democrats, including politicians considering running for president in 2028, to put artificial intelligence at the center of their agendas.

Even Kamala Harris spoke on Monday in support of slowing down AI development, so that regulation can keep the same pace as the technology.

“A slowdown is critical to ensure that artificial intelligence serves the public interest,” Harris declared, arguing that AI progress is happening at an alarming pace.

Harris called on Congress to create a federal agency for the oversight of artificial intelligence and asked the Trump administration to work for an international treaty on regulating the technology.