Behind the Curtain: It's not too late

The White House, Congress and the country's leading AI companies have allowed AI to grow faster, stronger, more powerful and wildly lucrative (and dangerous), with no serious effort to control it or spread the benefits beyond the super-wealthy.

• It's not too late to change this. But if they all dither, duck or dance around it, the chances of AI worst-case scenarios will explode, likely early next year, according to almost every person we talk to privately who truly understands AI.

Why it matters: The technology is getting better, faster than anyone envisioned — with the possibility rising that AI will self-improve and do wildly unpredictable things.

• The good news: There's now a growing public cry for attention and action and, at least in private, a broad understanding of what could be done relatively fast with bipartisan and industry buy-in.

The big picture: In July, I wrote an essay for The Wall Street Journal saying America "faces one of those rare, historic moments when government, business, schools and families could be working together to meet a truly generational challenge: winning the AI race. So far, we're blowing it."

• Two short months later, the technology is vastly better — and the societal response vastly dumber. As a nation, we're choosing to amuse or distract ourselves.

Here's how to change that fast, based on our months of conversations with lawmakers, White House officials and AI labs. Think of what follows as me channeling their private views:

1. Sound an all-hands-on-deck alarm. Every political topic is trivial and small compared to AI. We will look back in shame if we get spooled up about trans bans or $5,000 checks when countless AI insiders are warning of catastrophic outcomes. Let's say they're all paranoid and delusional. If so, it still doesn't matter: we've never seen this much investment in one technology this fast in human history. It's seeping into every industry and every job and every community and every screen, at a speed never before witnessed by man. Yes, we need a special session of Congress and select committees. But we need even more: AI execs, bioterror specialists, job-training wizards and safety experts convening to plan for scenarios and act fast.
2. An AI governing body with teeth and speed, ASAP. This isn't rocket science. Most major labs want this and would agree to it, as long as it applies to all rivals and competitors. This body would need the expertise to understand these models, and the power to review and shut them down if they display dangerous behavior. It can't operate at typical regulatory speed — it needs to move as fast as the technology. It's nonsense to think you can't advance AI development fast and regulate it wisely simultaneously.
3. A universal standard for data centers to benefit communities and taxpayers. The top AI companies would take this deal in a heartbeat: They get to build and operate data centers provided they supply a community's energy, offset water use or environmental damage, transparently report on their building and business plans, and spread the financial benefits to local residents. These execs are spooked by the public backlash and ready to aggressively spread the financial benefits, with dividends or cash. So make them.
4. Engage China. We shouldn't trust them, and they shouldn't trust us. But trust me: the only way to ultimately control AI on a worldwide scale in coming years will be for the two superpowers to create some kind of framework modeled after how we've safely governed nuclear weapons for decades. We need to start this discussion now so potential collaboration is possible in the coming years. To those who think China will never consider this seriously: Are you sure an authoritarian regime really wants AI once it hits recursive self-learning and can't be controlled by anyone, including an autocratic regime? We're winning the AI race now, and may never have more leverage to shape this joint effort.
5. Build coordinating infrastructure. What I wrote in the WSJ is even more needed today: "Bring together the best and brightest drawn from the federal government, from the leading AI companies, from business and labor, from economics, from public health, from ethics to form a working group with actual authority. People who are paid to anticipate, not to react haphazardly." This group would have four primary functions: map potential problems and upsides before they hit, build the (policy) playbooks before they're needed, level with the American people along the way, and expedite work to deliver widespread AI benefits.

Reality check: Yes, President Trump opposes regulation or bipartisan efforts. Yes, AI companies are obsessed with more money, more speed. But the politics are shifting fast: If you listen closely to Vice President Vance, you can hear rising worry. At this pace, toxic AI politics could force mind-changing that was unthinkable two months ago.