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Washington’s newest AI buzzkill
Bernie Sanders hopped on X and basically told Congress: stop listening to the billionaire pep rally and start listening to the public. His pitch? Americans are nervous about AI, and the numbers he cited are the kind that make policymakers sit up straighter than a fresh espresso.
According to Sanders, 70% of Americans say AI is moving too fast, 77% think whole industries could get wiped out, and 97% want AI safety rules. That’s not exactly a “move fast and break things” endorsement. It’s more like the public asking Silicon Valley to maybe, you know, tap the brakes.
Why investors should care
This isn’t about one company popping earnings or missing guidance. It’s about the regulatory weather pattern around AI, and that weather is getting cloudier:
- Trump is reportedly weighing an executive order that would add oversight for powerful AI models
- The Commerce Department has already lined up testing agreements with Google DeepMind, Microsoft, and xAI
- More oversight could mean slower deployment, more red tape, and higher costs for the biggest AI players
The catch
The same government that’s talking about guardrails is also still trying to keep the U.S. ahead in the AI arms race. So the likely outcome isn’t “ban the robots.” It’s more like “please build the robots, but bring a lot of paperwork.”
Big picture: AI isn’t just a tech story anymore. It’s turning into a policy fight, and that can matter just as much for your portfolio as a shiny new product launch.