Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Condemning Trump For Dismissing AI Risks While Congress, Industry Leaders, And Americans Call For Action

Washington, D.C. - Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke on the Senate floor to call for actions and condemn President Trump for ignoring serious concerns regarding AI advancement, as technology experts sound alarm bells over the threats that the rapid advancement of AI poses. Below are Senator Schumer's remarks, which can also be viewed here:

So, the American people keep calling on their government to act on AI, which even its creators are saying is increasingly dangerous, but Donald Trump couldn't care less.

Trump says that he has this issue covered - that "the only control or guardrails that AI needs is a strong and smart, high IQ president."

But we don't have one. So, let's do something, Senators. We know Trump is not going to step up to the plate here. He puts his head in the sand. He says there's no problem when every expert says there's a dramatic and dangerous problem that we should deal with. A high-IQ president wouldn't call Americans' well-founded AI concerns a "hoax" or a "sick conspiracy." Those aren't the words of someone with a high IQ, Donald Trump.

The only thing that is sick is Trump's indifference to the concerns, the legitimate, valid, strong concerns of the American people.

And this is what Trump always does: Americans voice their concerns about a pressing issue - Trump dismisses them out of hand.

Americans express their outrage about skyrocketing costs from Trump's failed agenda - Trump calls affordability "a made-up word."

Families say they're getting crushed at the gas pump because of Trump's war in Iran - the president calls soaring fuel prices "fake." Even when they're above $4.30 a gallon. Again, where's your IQ Mr. President? Where's your perception of the world?

I don't know if it's delusion or deception, but it doesn't matter: Trump is completely out of touch with the American people. And Trump is dead wrong about AI.

We don't even know how the administration is testing the safety of these powerful models before they are released to the public.

Is Trump favoring one company over another because of financial interests or because of his mood of the day? He's done that, time and time again. He's favored one company, one interest over another, because they suck up to him. They give him contributions. Who knows what, but it's usually not on the merits, and it's often corrupt.

What kind of rigor is really being employed to protect the safety and security of the American people? What are they doing? How are they doing it? Who are they favoring? These are all legitimate, important questions that must be answered.

And that's why I called on the Trump administration to hold a classified briefing with the entire Senate immediately about the potential severe risks that unchecked AI development poses to our country. We all know about them.

We need transparency into how the administration is testing powerful frontier AI models - something they have been concealing from the public since announcing a framework months ago.

AI is something we can come together on in the Senate. I say that to my colleagues: Democrats and Republicans can come together. We deserve to know how this administration is handling this consequential issue facing the American people.

If there's ever a time for Republicans to break from their blind allegiance to Trump, it is now.

The world is in danger. And Republicans are on the sidelines sucking their thumbs.

It's time to get off the bench.

And it is worth remembering that bipartisanship has happened on AI before.

If you can believe it, it has been three years - almost to the day - since I convened the Bipartisan AI Insight Forums.

We brought together not just industry titans but leaders from across sectors-academia, civil society, labor-to steer the Senate to much-needed action.

We convened these forums to get ahead of the very crises we're finding ourselves in today. To prevent AI from getting on an unsustainable path that endangers our security, undermines the public's trust, jeopardizes American leadership.

And out of these forums came a bipartisan comprehensive roadmap. It was strong. It was bipartisan.

And that roadmap was turned into a bipartisan package of bills that we came close to passing into law at the end of the last Congress until Republican leadership, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and an incoming Trump administration blocked it. We had a chance to do this. We nearly had it. We had good bipartisan support, and Trump comes in, Musk comes in, and says, don't do it. And now look where we are.

Ultimately, Republicans blocked our efforts to act at the end of last Congress. But my colleagues, my Republican colleagues, we can come together once again to take action. The American people are demanding it. We cannot let partisanship stand in the way of this - one of the most serious problems our country and the world has ever faced.

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