Waters has heated exchange with Bessent on AI

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) went after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday for the Trump administration’s policy on artificial intelligence , as warnings about the technology percolate.

During Bessent’s appearance before the House Financial Services Committee, Waters said President Trump is “blindly” pushing for the development of AI models and data centers “with absolutely no safeguards.”

The California Democrat, the panel’s ranking member, then asked Bessent whether he had seen the concerns about AI from industry leaders, including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

“They could stop anytime they want to,” Bessent replied, before Waters cut him off.

The 18-term lawmaker remarked, “Did you hear what your friends had to say? What the big billionaires had to say? Did you understand that they said, ‘We’re moving into a dangerous period of time. We need to watch it. We need to slow down.’ Did you hear that?”

Leaders in the AI industry have warned about the technology’s rapid development and the potential implications for all facets of life. Amodei, who co-founded Anthropic with his sister in 2021, wrote in a Saturday essay that “fully addressing the risks” of AI “requires even more prudence” from companies.

“We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models. Progress will still seem fast, and we must make wise use of the time we gain,” Amodei said.

The Anthropic CEO specifically raised concerns about AI being able to improve itself and OpenAI agents recently hacking tech startup Hugging Face , which Nvidia announced plans to purchase earlier this month.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have also sounded the alarm bells , with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) urging Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Monday to keep the lower chamber in session to pass legislation reining in AI. The House is set to begin a seven-week recess at the close of business on Thursday.

When Waters asked Bessent about warnings from industry leaders on AI, he said the Trump administration “has been at the forefront of examining” models. The Treasury secretary added the administration began examining top AI models “five or six months ago.”

But Waters again cut Bessent off, saying, “Your friends said watch it, be careful, that we’re moving into a dangerous time on AI. And if you don’t admit that, it means that you’re not willing to stand up to the truth.”

Trump has dismissed the need for stronger guardrails on AI, saying Monday the “only control” the technology needs “is a STRONG AND SMART” president.

“There is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers, and the only one that is happy about it is China,” Trump wrote on Truth Social .