Scott Wiener, the California state senator who recently won a tight congressional race to succeed Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco, may soon be positioned to shape federal artificial intelligence policy. Wiener previously authored state legislation aimed at reducing the risks of advanced AI, and he has made the concerns of the AI safety movement central to his platform. In a recent conversation, he pointed to a report from the nonprofit METR, widely read as evidence that Anthropic had reached recursive self-improvement, a stage where AI meaningfully contributes to its own advancement and progress could accelerate beyond human control. Wiener called this deeply concerning and argued that lawmakers are running out of time to act, adding that he had hoped Congress would take decisive steps before the end of the year but that this does not appear to be happening.
Wiener has already influenced AI policy at the state level. His SB 1047 bill, which would have been among the first frontier AI laws in the country, was vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom, while a lighter-touch follow-up bill, SB 53, was signed into law. Both measures have inspired proposed federal legislation. His campaign also received more than $1 million from Public First Action, a nonprofit that supports AI regulation and receives substantial funding from Anthropic. Critics argued this left him too close to the industry, a charge Wiener rejects, saying the group backed him because he was the first lawmaker to introduce and pass AI regulation that was implemented over industry objections.
Looking ahead, Wiener says he would be eager to serve on a potential House select committee on artificial intelligence and supports a strong, nimble federal regulator, along with whistleblower protections, testing and auditing requirements, and a kill switch mandate. He opposes broad federal preemption of state AI laws, arguing that states serve as laboratories able to move faster than Congress. He is only cautiously optimistic, however, citing Congress’s weak record on tech regulation and concerns about President Donald Trump, who has dismissed catastrophic AI risk as a hoax. Wiener also notes that the public backlash against data centers is driven largely by local concerns such as electricity bills, water use, and effects on nearby homes, rather than by broader fears about AI risk.
Source: Nancy Pelosi’s replacement is ready to regulate AI via MIT Technology Review