Democrats urge Johnson to reconvene House for AI safeguards

A group of House Democrats is pressuring Speaker Mike Johnson to reconvene the chamber immediately and cancel the upcoming recess in order to advance bipartisan AI safeguards, warning of catastrophic risks from advanced AI such as cybersecurity breaches and the potential creation of weapons. Signed by Reps. Sam Liccardo, George Whitesides, Lori Trahan and Ted Lieu, the letter argues Congress cannot delay action and cites recent AI misuse examples (Anthropic Claude disruptions related to biological threats, a China-linked Uyghur surveillance operation in Syria, and Iran-linked data-analysis attempts against US naval forces) to justify urgent legislative steps, even as the House plans a multi-week recess after this legislative week for the midterm cycle.