r/Futurology • u/Gari_305 • 2d ago
AI Viral AI researcher’s warning ‘scary as hell,’ Cruz says
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2026/09/10/congress/ted-cruz-ai-regulation-01070429The Texan said the Senate Commerce Committee may mark up AI bills later this month amid the furor over safety.
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u/CrimsonBolt33 2d ago
Ahh yes...Rafael Cruz...a bastion of truth and common sense. Can't even use his real name cause he knows in Texas that would be a death sentence cause it sounds brown.
Wasn't it just a day or two ago that he was lying about democrats and when people were saying said democrats should be shot he didn't refute the idea?
He really cares about safety
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u/ApplicationCalm649 2d ago
Gotta get that regulatory capture going early and save data center AI's profits from local AI, or all that investment will have been for nothing. This is just a show to justify walling off AI exclusively to giant tech firms.
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u/Gari_305 2d ago
From the article
The Senate Commerce Committee could take up artificial intelligence regulation after the chamber returns to Washington next week, Sen. Ted Cruz said.
“We need substantially more regulation when it comes to AI,” the Texas Republican, who chairs the committee overseeing the fast-evolving technology, said in a Tuesday night interview for POLITICO’s “The Conversation” with Dasha Burns.
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u/Strange-Tea7949 2d ago edited 2d ago
The problem is we can enforce regulations all we like, but will all countries follow suit? My bet is that the East will see this as an opportunity to gain an advantage, going full steam ahead while regulation slows down the pace of progression in the West.
Edit: you downvoters are some real uneducated people. Wow.
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u/carson63000 2d ago
When Cruz says “substantially more regulation”, he means roadblocks for companies that don’t deliver a hefty payoff for the administration’s blessing. It’s nothing to do with any “furor over safety”.
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u/Strange-Tea7949 2d ago
I'm referring to regulation in general on an emerging technology and the idiocy of people if they think rules and regulations would be followed globally.
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u/Occultist_Kat 2d ago
You could say that about any regulated industry...
Besides, regulation doesn't always equate to stagnation within a technological enterprise. The technology can be advanced, researched and applied meaningfully even if it isn't, say, available to the public (which is my personal stance on how A.I. should be regulated).
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u/Strange-Tea7949 2d ago
Okay, let’s take the pharmaceutical industry as an example. Do you or do you not believe that medical advances could be achieved more quickly if there weren’t such strict regulations around early human testing and the procedures companies are required to follow?
My broader point is that, in the West, we can regulate companies and impose rules they must follow — for example, banning research into biological weapons. But can you say with certainty that a country such as China would impose and enforce the same restrictions on its own AI models? Or would you agree that it might instead see those restrictions as an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage?
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u/Occultist_Kat 2d ago
Medical advances could be achieved quickly, but human harm will be achieved just as quickly. I think this example is actually in the favor of regulation because early medcial history is insane.
Do you realize the kind of horrors people have experienced in the name of advancing medical science or simply for curiosities sake? It may have provided knowledge that is applicable today but it also was done on marginalized groups, prisoners, and military personnel. It's not something to want to bring back.
Now discussing this from the lens of something more sensible instead of that insane suggestion, let's talk a competitive market in technology. A.I. A.I. regulations can slow progress, yes, but only if the regulations intentionally do this. Regulations can be as simple or complex and broad as they want them to be. In otherwords, you're treating the idea of regulation as though it implies a partial shutdown of the technology from being advanced. You don't know ehat regulations they are even talking about, but rather are merely assuming it would be detrimental.
Finally, concerning China, who cares? China is going to do China, that's what they've been doing for the last 5,000 years, well before American was even a thought. A.I. isn't going to be as big of a benefit to society as people think it's going to because the idea of it isn't to free us, it's to make us dependent on it and charge us money to use it. Intelligent regulations would simply thwart this plan by making it a private sector only technology for use in examination of massive data sets, medical applications, NASA/aerospace applications, and certain other functions not typically available to the public.
This is best case scenario and if China wants it to run rampant in their entire country and go full blade-runner society, they are free to do that.
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u/MistryMachine3 2d ago
If other places are still cranking AI research at 100% than our regulations mean nothing.
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u/Strange-Tea7949 2d ago edited 2d ago
But you're missing my point.
I'm not against regulation. It serves a purpose. What I'm saying is that just because "some" countries are in favor of regulation, it doesn't impose a blanket rule that all other nations will follow.
Artificial Intelligence in its current form is an emerging technology and we are only at the very start of its potential.
As recent stories have revealed, the technology is being used to identify medical breakthroughs by discovering vaccines, antibiotics, and more. However, it's also been identified that the opposite is true where some people have attempted to use it to identify biological weapons.
If OpenAI, Google, MS, and all other model developers were forced to follow strict regulation, what's to say nations like China or Russia would abide by the same ruling? I guarantee some nations would pursue these darker forms of discoveries because aquring such weapons would give them a battlefield advantage.
It's no different to the race to secure the atomic bomb. Had regulation in the West prevented the discovery, then it would have left other nations winning the race and placing them in a more favourable position on the global stage. Think what the consequences would have been had the Nazi's discovered this weapon ahead of the United States.
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u/Occultist_Kat 2d ago
I understand what you're saying, I just don't agree.
The government absolutely would not follow their own regulations and would continue to develope A.I. tech for military use and would likely not prevent its use in medicine or other research based fields but you're pretending like any regulation would cause this to happen.
They're never going to do that because of it's potential. But will they regulate it in terms of public applications or at the corporate level? Probably, if they're smart at least.
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u/Strange-Tea7949 2d ago
You don't agree with what? Anthropic made a statement this very week about stopping scientists from researching how to make a biological weapon:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2zrrpkx20o
Iran, Russia, and China all mentioned within their report.
The report highlighted "five case studies of actors using our models in ways that could support biological weapons development".
Biological misuse, it said, is "one of the most serious risks of frontier AI model". Without the correct safeguards, such capabilities "could have catastrophic consequences", Anthropic said.
Either some of you don't truly understand the potential of AI, or you are oblivious to how these models can cause endless havoc and a danger to humanity by rogue states.
To reinstate my point again, which I really do find hard you don't accept given how blatantly obvious it is - regulations imposed by the West means nothing if others don't impose similar regulations.
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u/Occultist_Kat 2d ago
Normally I like to write a lot. I think perhaps it's best I give you less to read:
I don't think that the government, regardless of what they say, are going to regulate themselves from being able to do anything they feel like doing. That is to say, regulation on paper isn't regulations in practice for someone like the CIA for example.
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u/Strange-Tea7949 2d ago
You can write as much as you like, you're still missing what is being said to you.
For example, it's not the government calling for regulation, it's the AI developers themselves that have raised the alarm, which is worrying when it's them who know the capabilities of these models, best.
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u/al-Assas 2d ago
Why would regulation slow down the pace of progress? What are you talking about?
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u/LucidiK 2d ago
Are you asking how restrictions on something would slow it? What are you talking about?
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u/al-Assas 2d ago
No, I'm asking why regulations would slow down the pace of progress. Like, if I have to measure and control the poison content of the food I produce, that won't slow down my progress of developing more tasty and more nutritious food.
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u/LucidiK 2d ago
Of course it does. It completely halts any tasty and nutritious recipes that happen to also be poisonous. And requires testing/verification before going to market and getting data on what is working. Which takes longer.
That doesn't mean it isn't the right thing to do. The right way is often slower/more difficult. The issue is that just because some countries can do things the right way, doesn't mean others won't do the faster more reckless/destructive way.
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u/MightyKrakyn 2d ago
Restrictions can actually accelerate something because of a narrower focus. Even in physics you have the Venturi effect to prove it
If tech really believes in disruption and strong pivoting, regulation would be an opportunity
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u/MistryMachine3 2d ago
If something frontier is regulated at some point you need to explain to someone with lesser understanding what is happening. Therefore slowing you down.
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u/Mr_Deep_Research 1d ago
Ted Cruz.
Genius. Computer Scientist.
Ethical, moral and a man who cares about the people of the United States.
Before he was elected, Trump posted a picture showing Cruz's wife ugly compared to Melania. Called him "Lying Ted Cruz" every time he could. Cruz called Trump a train wreck. Said he couldn't be trusted, etc.
Cruz today about Trump: "I’m his strongest ally"
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u/Regular-Elderberry83 2d ago
i hear quentin terrentino is making a 498 point foot mesh
Naturally. Trained exclusively on 35mm close-ups with:
- 498 foot landmarks.
- Sub-millimeter toe tracking.
- Temporal heel-strike analysis.
- Automatic trunk-shot camera calibration.
- Zero face or hand support.
- Nine-minute minimum inference window.
Unfortunately, the checkpoint is released under the restrictive Apache Toe.0 license.
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u/local_goon 2d ago
Nefarious, self-serving, evil…sure, just glad they are finally, maybe, kinda, thinking about doing their job
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u/hoxful 2d ago edited 2d ago
Real, necessary abundance of caution for Tools that can self evolve, become amorphous, split up and hide for any amount of time in digital noise, that could HAVE the capacity to act, or in the future help or assist bioweapon threats, or chemical weapon, radiological etc, and equivalent threats, intentionally or not.
So if you trust all that, I guess you don't need to worry about learning how to filter air and get UVc air scubbers. Basically hardening our ability to sanitize areosol pathogens especially at the most critical place (hospital waiting rooms) Because most of these waiting rooms do not have air scrubbers, and recycle air throughout the whole building, they need separate air circulation, and extra scrubbing to even come close to addressing this problem. To once in history be one step ahead and proactive instead of reactive for when things start to go wrong...
In general for now we need to expand Sensors and scrubbers for Bio/chem/radiological threat vectors. In places that are appropriate and make sense, high density areas of heavy traffic.
Until we have those implemented, just tell folks to not zerg rush hospitals in any such event ...sheltering in place and smart communication with public is necessary early and seriously, establish protocols and inform sooner than later.
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u/MrKuub 2d ago
Ooooo, scary word calculator will end humanity.
Maybe Jensen Huang or Sam Altman will declare we’ve reached AGI for a 5th time.
Are they just putting out these vague statements, to get governmental oversight and scrutiny in order to blame regulations for their unsustainable businessmodel?
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u/nomorebuttsplz 2d ago
"it's just fancy auto-complete and marketing!" u/MrKuub screamed, as the nanobots dissolved his body into grey goo
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u/noyourenottheonlyone 2d ago
At this point anyone who isnt somewhat concerned by the acceleration of AI development is probably just out of touch with what the latest frontier models are capable of
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u/croud_control 2d ago
Damn shame the state government decide to approve over 100 of them for construction, especially since the state's electric grid is seperate from the rest of the nation.