Utah Governor Spencer Cox has called for greater federal involvement in artificial intelligence, warning that the risk of an “existential event” is growing faster than expected and urging Congress to work with technology companies rather than impose an immediate moratorium.
The Republican governor said the response from Washington had been inadequate and that lawmakers should at least begin a serious discussion about the potential dangers of AI. He said recent reports, including an incident involving the AI platform Hugging Face, should concern the public.
“The people that know the most about this are the most concerned right now,” Mr Cox said in an interview on the US programme Face the Nation. “It’s really important that the government gets involved.”
Mr Cox said members of his team had contacted Republican members of Utah’s congressional delegation over the past 48 hours. He said the state was pursuing a “pro-human AI approach”, bringing companies and government together to consider how the public could be protected.
He stressed that he was not advocating a moratorium or the shutdown of AI development, saying the government should be “at the table” and work with the industry.
Utah governor on mail-in voting and affordability
The governor also addressed the potential impact of new postal service rules on the US midterm elections, as the Supreme Court considers a case involving mail-in ballots.
About 95% of voters in Utah used mail-in ballots in the state’s June primary elections. Mr Cox said Utah had taken about a decade to introduce the system and had “tremendous security measures” in place, adding that the state would be ready for whatever decision the Supreme Court reached.
Turning to the economy, Mr Cox acknowledged that affordability remained a major concern for voters. He said higher petrol prices had been affected by the conflict in Iran, while housing remained the most serious part of the crisis.
He called for more housebuilding and permitting reform, saying an entire generation of young people risked being unable to afford a home. Although he credited the administration with working to lower housing costs, he said Congress still needed to act.
Mr Cox also expressed concern about a proposal to give every American adult $5,000 if Republicans win the midterm elections, which would reportedly cost $1.2 trillion. He said the country’s national debt had passed $40 trillion and warned that additional spending could create further inflationary pressure.
Despite those concerns, he said Democrats had given Republicans a political advantage by moving towards what he described as “full socialist” policies, and predicted a closer midterm contest than recent polling had suggested.
Spencer Cox warns against political violence
Mr Cox, whose new book argues for greater civility in public life, also criticised the increasingly hostile language used by politicians on both sides of the political divide.
He said policy disagreements and passionate argument were essential, but objected to personal attacks and name-calling. His comments came after President Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance used forceful language to condemn Democrats at a midterm convention.
Mr Cox said threats against members of Congress had increased tenfold over the past decade. He urged Americans to find an “off-ramp” from the current political hostility, warning that the rise in political violence was a greater concern than ordinary differences over policy.
