Axios: Officials in both parties see AI executives’ catastrophe warnings as a political liability in Washington

Lawmakers and White House advisers in both parties increasingly see AI company leaders as a political liability, Axios’ Maria Curi reported on October 24. According to the report, executives’ messaging too often alternates between prosperity and doom, sometimes in the same public appearance, adding to an already powerful public backlash. Axios wrote that even pro-AI officials and lawmakers wish AI founders would do what other industry chiefs do and “shut up and just build their products” safely. By centering the conversation on digital sentience and global catastrophe, the report says, AI leaders are turning a complicated regulatory debate into “an impossible moral panic.”

Sen. John Curtis, a Utah Republican, told Axios that AI leaders are “tripping over their own shoelaces” in explaining the technology’s value. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, said, “You cannot trust billionaires to make decisions to keep us safe.” According to the report, Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno finds Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s commentary panic-inducing. Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy wants his party to challenge the industry’s political influence and its data centers.

The report also details specific criticism of Anthropic. Axios says Amodei attended a late-September gathering with President Donald Trump without disclosing safety incidents involving Anthropic models that affected government websites. The company told officials on October 8 and published a blog post afterward. Anthropic says it briefed the White House and affected agencies once its reviews were complete. New York Assemblymember Alex Bores called OpenAI’s policy proposals vague and aimed at blocking state regulation. An OpenAI spokesperson said the company has engaged with both parties, the administration and statehouses.