Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Demanding The Trump Administration Brief Senators On The Dangers Of Unchecked AI

Washington, D.C. - Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke on the Senate floor urging the Trump administration to provide a classified briefing to Senators on AI and to work with lawmakers and industry leaders to implement guardrails to mitigate AI's risks, block China from accessing America's advanced AI chips, and protect our nation's institutions from banks to our power grid. Below are Senator Schumer's remarks, which can also be viewed here:

The warning signs about AI's rapid pace have never been clearer.

But what is President Trump's response to the recent calls for the government to regulate AI - even from industry leaders?

Trump says, "the only control or guardrails that AI needs is a strong and smart high IQ president."

Well, even if we had a high-IQ president right now - and we surely don't - it wouldn't be enough. Congress cannot afford to turn a blind eye to AI.

Today, I'm calling for an all-Senators classified briefing with top administration officials to address the dangers of unchecked AI development and hold the administration accountable for its lack of action to protect the American people.

I've long argued that we need to ensure the U.S. remains the global leader in innovation and security.

We all know the transformational innovation that can come from AI for advances in medicine, science, education, and research and so much more.

But I've also always said that if our economy and society is to reap the potential benefits of AI, we need sustainable innovation as well.

That means putting guardrails in to mitigate the risks of this technology and earn the public's trust, which is critical to American leadership.

In the last few months, the importance of these strong guardrails have become much more apparent.

Just this weekend, leading voices from the AI industry came together to sound the alarm and embrace a slower development of AI to avoid damaging outcomes.

This comes after weeks of revelations of AI going rogue and working together to hack websites, without human control, and of real concerns of the potential catastrophic risks of unchecked AI.

The American people want to see action. Industry leaders want to see action. Many of us on both sides of the aisle want to see action.

That's why the Trump administration needs to address three key points in our classified briefing.

First, we need a full accounting of the administration's new framework for testing powerful frontier AI models - something that has been withheld from the public for weeks.

We need to know exactly how this framework is identifying and countering potentially catastrophic risks before these AI models are released.

Second, we need to hear how the administration plans to defend our country against increasingly sophisticated AI-enabled cyberattacks on critical infrastructure.

How are we going to protect our power grid, our hospitals, our water treatment systems, schools, telecommunications, banking, and election systems from this new threat? They don't have the sophistication of much larger institutions. They're susceptible to attack. Americans need to know how we're going to protect these systems.

Finally, the administration needs to explain what it's doing to block China from accessing America's advanced AI chips, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and other cutting-edge tech that the Chinese Communist Party is using to accelerate their own AI development.

For years, I have stressed the importance of protecting this technology from being co-opted by the Chinese, and now there is growing bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress to do so. We need immediate action, and the President should take it.

The administration cannot in one breath say we need unrestrained AI development to win the race with China while giving away our AI crown jewels to the Chinese.

I believe preserving America's AI advantage over China and ensuring responsible AI development go hand in hand. We can. We must do both.

Unless all the facts come out - and come out soon - it will greatly hamper our ability to get anything done. That's why this classified briefing is of the utmost importance.

I urge the administration to provide a classified briefing on AI to the entire Senate immediately.

Regardless, Senate Democrats will take further action on AI in the coming days and weeks. The United States government cannot sit this one out.

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