How did 2028ers become interested in AI?
Two ways: gradually, and then suddenly.
Over the past couple years, top Dems have tiptoed into AI policymaking and discourse – typically, either zooming in on near-term threats (e.g. nudification or chatbots for kids), or zooming way out (e.g. warning that we are still underreacting to AI).
In recent months, of course, everyone has been speaking out against data centers; they know how to read polls, evidently. And a few governors – like JB PRITZKER and GAVIN NEWSOM – have even had the good fortune of signing new AI safety frameworks into law, on top of other tech accountability measures.
Still, as recently as last month, few Dems were really treating AI as a front-burner issue. Few were discussing it with frequency, urgency, and depth. Few were outlining an affirmative vision for navigating this technological revolution. Certainly, few were dropping terms of art like ‘recursive self-improvement’ or ‘p(doom)’.
But in the past two weeks, a series of “oh f*** are we all gonna die?” moments has upended that paradigm. And now, 2028ers are racing, rushing, scrambling! to demonstrate leadership on AI.
Here’s a supercut of what everyone’s been saying:
And here’s a fuller rundown of notable recent developments:
GAVIN NEWSOM issued an executive order to accelerate third-party oversight of AI companies, tasking an expert body with issuing swift guidance on additional AI safety measures, such as requiring companies to develop a “kill switch” and/or embed independent evaluators onsite. He also floated a potential special legislative session.
RO KHANNA called for a ban on self-improving AI, a new regulatory agency, pre-deployment safety certification, and liability for agentic AI with criminal penalties. And as ranking member on the House China committee, he sent letters to top Chinese AI firms urging their cooperation in pacing the frontier, and will hold a shadow hearing tomorrow to push for a US-China AI agreement.
JOSH SHAPIRO delivered a keynote address at the AI Horizons Conference in Pittsburgh, encouraging the federal government to enact strict guardrails, while arguing that “the idea that we must choose between protecting our people from the risks posed by AI and winning the race against China” is a false choice.
JON OSSOFF called for inspectors to be dispatched to frontier labs and AI executives and engineers to be summoned to testify before Congress.
JB PRITZKER sounded the alarm on AI safety, calling for immediate congressional hearings and federal action. He touted Illinois’s gold standard AI safety law – the first in the nation to require independent auditing – and is reportedly considering additional legislative action.
KAMALA HARRIS called on Congress to swiftly “pass new laws and establish a new federal entity to provide oversight and independent testing” for AI – and praised a new Jay Carney-led VC project to shape AI policy and rebuild Silicon Valley’s relationship with Democrats, drawing significant blowback from the left.
CORY BOOKER called on Trump to convene Congress for a special session and outlined a suite of policies he supports, including establishing an NTSB-like entity for investigating AI incidents.
RUBEN GALLEGO is pushing a bipartisan Senate Select Committee on AI that would bring in experts to make expeditious recommendations.
And here’s what to make of it…
Democrats had largely been asleep at the wheel on what will be a defining issue in 2028, but they are moving in the right direction as they scramble (SCRAMBLE!) to get up to speed.
Much like the data center issue, the field is herding toward a reasonable baseline: slower frontier development, expanded safety requirements for high-risk systems, new transparency and oversight mechanisms, and international coordination.
Their messaging has been aided by the fact that Donald Trump wants to dissolve America into a lawless meat-slave-state for superintelligent AI robots so he can watch the Dow go up, while Mike Johnson trusts trillionaire broligarchs to self-regulate and sent Congress home for six weeks.
Still, beneath the surface-level Democratic alignment, there are chasms in both fluency and ideology – and a massive opportunity awaiting whoever can seize this issue and weave it into a broader populist narrative.
Quick Hits
ANDY BESHEAR’s memoir, Go and Do Likewise, is out today. He’ll kick off his book tour with Gov. WES MOORE in DC; subsequent stops include Philly; Concord, NH (with former Gov. John Lynch); Atlanta (with GA-Gov nominee Keisha Lance Bottoms); Charleston (with SC kingmaker Jim Clyburn); and Detroit (with Gov. GRETCHEN WHITMER), among others.
BESHEAR also announced a new program to erase $250M of medical debt for 130,000 Kentuckians; qualifying residents will automatically be notified that their outstanding payments have been relieved.
AOC – in an interview with NYT’s Shane Goldmacher – offered the clearest window yet into her thinking on whether she can have the most impact by running for president or Senate, seeming to appreciate both the unique opening before her and the challenges her candidacy would face.
AOC will campaign for Democrats in upstate New York in the coming weeks and has donated $300k to boost NY Dem organizing efforts, half of which is earmarked for Spanish-language outreach.
JB PRITZKER gave an interesting speech to MI Dems in Grand Rapids on Thursday, arguing that working people deserve to own their lives, but have been reduced to renting everything from profit-maximizing companies – echoes of CHRIS MURPHY’s “Crisis of the Common Good.”
PRITZKER’s Ready for the Fight PAC is reportedly placing ad buys in support of Rep. Shomari Figures (AL-02), Chris Jones (AR-02), & Justin Pearson (TN-09) – three young Black candidates in districts Trump carried by between 14 and 21 points.
PRITZKER also revealed for the first time that he’s lost 80 pounds with the help of a GLP-1, discussing his lifelong battle with his weight with the Chicago Sun Times’ Tina Sfondeles and CBS Mornings.
We had PRITZKER’s chief of staff & top strategist Anne Caprara on NKA, covering everything from AI industry lobbying, to the folders vs. fighters split within the Dem Party – and where the Gov. fits in its future.
KAMALA HARRIS will campaign for MI-Sen nominee Abdul El-Sayed in Detroit today, including at a roundtable on Black maternal health and a voting rights forum with the local NAACP chapter.
NYT’s Reid Epstein has new reporting on the cold shoulder HARRIS has gotten from many Dem candidates in states with smaller Black populations as she navigates the midterms and her political future.
GAVIN NEWSOM reportedly “played a crucial role” in brokering the settlement of the 12-state antitrust lawsuit to block Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. amid threats the studio would move to Nashville, earning him a (perhaps unwanted) shoutout from CEO David Ellison – and consternation from the left.
NEWSOM also signed legislation Saturday that will penalize influencers who fail to properly disclose paid political content, empowering regulators to impose fines of up to $5,000 per violative post.
PETE BUTTIGIEG hit rallies in Tucson, AZ for JoAnna Mendoza (AZ-06); Las Cruces, NM for Gabe Vazquez (NM-02) & Deb Haaland (NM-Gov); Tarrytown, NY for Cait Conley (NY-17); San Antonio, TX for Katy Padilla Stout (TX-23) & Johnny Garcia (TX-35); and keynoted TX Dems’ Johnson-Jordan Dinner in Dallas & Travis County Dems’ JBR Brunch in Austin.
Last night, PETE was back in NH, keynoting First Amendment Awards at St. Anselm’s Loeb School, where he tore into Trump’s attacks on the press, among other infringements.
CHRIS MURPHY is giving an impressive $525,000 to Democratic Party committees – spread across the DNC, DSCC, DCCC, and 25 state party committees – and has now contributed more than $2.5M this cycle to progressive causes.
RO KHANNA & Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) announced that they’ll have the 218 signatures needed to force a vote on their 2nd Epstein Files bill when the House returns, which would compel the DOJ to release more documents.
JON OSSOFF was profiled by The Atlantic’s Elaine Godfrey, who concluded that “the 2028 presidential primary could hinge on whether the senator learns how to go off script.”
WES MOORE launched the first TV ad of his reelection campaign, and it focuses on Maryland’s first-in-the-nation ban on dynamic pricing at grocery stores, which he signed into earlier this year.
I did some 2028 superlatives (and blue tsunami midterm forecasting) with Tim Miller on The Bulwark Podcast.
Highlights from the Big, Beautiful Tracker
JON OSSOFF on Conversate with Killer Mike
PETE BUTTIGIEG on The Breakfast Club, in conversation with Jessica Tarlov, and with Jeffrey Goldberg at Atlantic Fest
WES MOORE on Punchbowl’s Fly Out Day
MARK KELLY’s conversation with Mark Leibovich at Atlantic Fest
RAHM EMANUEL’s conversation with Ashley Parker at Atlantic Fest
