Senator Bernie Sanders and strategist Steve Bannon shared a platform at the "Pro-Human Assembly" in Washington on Tuesday, both warning about the dangers of artificial intelligence and calling for restrictions on Silicon Valley "oligarchs", despite occupying opposite ends of the political spectrum. The event highlighted an unusual convergence between progressive and populist-right figures on AI regulation, even as the pair diverged sharply on how to handle the escalating technology rivalry with China, which Donald Trump has cited as justification for accelerating AI development.

Sanders called for international diplomacy, urging Trump to negotiate a treaty with Chinese president Xi Jinping, who is due to visit Washington next week, to pause advanced AI development and ban super-intelligent systems, drawing a comparison with the Reagan-Gorbachev nuclear arms treaty. Bannon, by contrast, demanded an aggressive "quarantine" of China, including expelling Chinese nationals from US labs, halting the training of Chinese engineers, cutting capital flows and blocking chip exports, arguing this economic isolation must come before any domestic AI regulation. Both men accused major tech firms of prioritising profit over public safety, with Bannon claiming Silicon Valley sought to "socialise all the risk" while keeping the financial upside for itself.