Barack Obama Bashes Donald Trump and His Administration for Not Being 'Capable or Willing' to Make AI Regulations

President Barack Obama's criticism of Donald Trump has extended to the current president's hands-off approach toward AI regulation.

“[The] government has to be regulating this!” Obama declared during a September 18 appearance at Colgate University, where he voiced his concern that AI could cause "mischief" unless guardrails are in place.

Trump infamously claimed that the only guardrail AI needs is a "smart president," referring to himself.

Obama took a different view, sternly warning that the dangers of AI are as serious as those posed by unregulated food and medicine.

“I heard one of Donald Trump’s main advisers on this make the argument that, ‘The market will take care of it. These companies will solve the safety issues because they have every incentive to do so — if it turns out to be dangerous, people will just sue them and they’re worried about financial liability,'" he said. "That’s not how we treat airlines! Or drug companies, or food companies.”

The threat of AI has become more pressing in recent weeks after a top safety researcher at Anthropic said there's a "10 percent chance" AI kills all humans within the next decade. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has also said AI will one day cause the end of the world.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently warned that AI innovation must slow down lest things go off the rails. Altman and Elon Musk both endorsed that message.

Trump has downplayed such fears as a "hoax" as he continues to let the industry go unchecked. Obama made clear he doesn't share that view.

“The challenge we have is that, obviously, we have a president currently that has said that’s for losers,” he stated. "We’ve got a gap of at least a couple of years where things are moving really fast and we have an administration that is not capable of or willing to — I would argue both — putting together a serious regulatory framework.”

Unlike most issues, calls for AI guardrails have garnered bipartisan support in Washington. Democratic Rep. Josh Gottenheimer and Republican Rep. Mike Lawler introduced the Stop Rogue AI act in Congress, which is aimed at preventing AI systems from working on their own without human oversight.

Dem Rep. Ted Lieu and Republican Rep. Nathaniel Moran introduced the AI Kill Switch Act, which would give the Department of Homeland Security authority to order a shutdown if a system poses a risk of catastrophic harm.

Bernie Sanders and Democratic Rep. Greg Cesar have called to pause AI development until federal safety rules are in place.

Ted Cruz called for guardrails on The View and said he is working with Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Dem Senator Amy Klobuchar on legislation.