Exclusive / Democrats encouraged to scrutinize Trump and AI - Semafor

Democrats are facing heavy pressure from AI safety groups to ramp up oversight of the Trump administration’s AI policy when they take power next year, according to two letters shared first with Semafor.

The AI safety group Guardrails Action and nine other groups wrote to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, arguing that voters were clear in the midterms that they want AI and government accountability.

The groups seized on the recent Nvidia controversy, demanding hearings with now-former CEO Jensen Huang and Commerce Department officials.

“The concentration of power and wealth from AI, and the risks that come with it, are historic. Countering that power is the most important fight of our lifetime,” the letter reads.

A second letter from the Alliance for Secure AI and the Tech Oversight Project addresses Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick directly, demanding he support strengthened export controls.