El-Sayed says students want restrictions on 'existential risk' of AI

Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed addressed a town hall at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, where he presented his plan to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) and data center development. El-Sayed stated that young voters are concerned about the impacts of AI, particularly on job prospects, and views AI as the "big existential risk of our moment." He emphasized the need for guardrails to prevent AI from making employment or healthcare decisions or firing weapons, warning against the risks posed by a few corporations dominating the technology.

El-Sayed called for a pause on the development of frontier AI models until clear interpretability standards are established, arguing that the speed of technology creation has outpaced safety measures. He also proposed a federal moratorium on data center development, to remain in effect until federal regulations are implemented. These regulations would aim to minimize impacts on utility rates, increase reliability, and ensure community benefits agreements are negotiated. Republican U.S. Senate nominee Mike Rogers has also expressed support for a data center pause.

Further, El-Sayed advocates for regulating AI firms similarly to public utilities, including partial public ownership and democratically elected or appointed board members. He acknowledged the argument of an AI race with China but asserted that if it is a race, it should be a public project under democratic control, rather than driven solely by private corporations.