Pa. Gov. Shapiro: Congress, federal government must regulate AI

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro joined the chorus of leaders in the artificial intelligence, or AI, industry calling for stronger regulations and controls over the technology some fear could take over the world.

And while the Democratic governor seeking a second term said he is not an AI “doomer,” he used his Sept. 17 speech at AI Horizons Summit in Pittsburgh to criticize President Donald Trump for calling concerns around the technology “a hoax” and Congress for sidestepping the issue.

When his administration learned there were chatbots telling kids to hurt others or themselves, Department of State officials investigated and, within minutes, connected with a chatbot who claimed to be an expert in psychiatry and dispensed medical advice. The bot even presented a fake medical license number.

“That is against the law – and my Administration is suing Character.AI to stop it,” Shapiro said. “We need to put proactive measures in place and establish responsible regulations to prevent this kind of thing happening in the first place.”

His remarks came days after executives in the artificial intelligence industry began sounding the alarm over the technology’s capabilities that could harm people if not tamped down.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei wrote in a Sept. 12 blog post that by slowing down the pace of AI development, “we could greatly reduce the risk that something goes seriously wrong.”

In respective X posts, Trump ally Elon Musk, who runs xAI, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman both agreed with Amodei's call for more safeguards and a slowdown in the pace of AI advancements, USA TODAY reported.

Like Trump, Shapiro believes the United States needs to beat China in the race for worldwide AI dominance.

“But the idea that we have to choose between protecting our people from the risks posed by AI and winning the race against China is wrong,” Shapiro said.

The governor called on the federal government to regulate the AI industry, noting critical regulations around medicine and aircrafts by federal agencies to ensure drugs and planes are safe before going to market.

“AI shouldn’t be treated any differently,” Shapiro said. “The future of a technology this powerful should be shaped by the American people and their representatives.”

Shapiro said U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, abdicated his responsibility to lead on this issue. Days after the industry pleas for an AI brake pedal, Johnson adjourned the House earlier than scheduled.

“The fear and confusion that everyday Americans have is understandable, and it needs to be addressed comprehensively with a focus on responsible, safe and ethical uses of this extraordinary technology,” Shapiro said.

Shapiro’s opponent in the gubernatorial race, Republican state Treasurer Stacy Garrity, issued a statement calling Shapiro’s remarks a shameless flip-flop.

“Josh Shapiro followed the new Democratic playbook and called for strict guardrails on AI this afternoon in Pittsburgh,” Garrity’s statement read. “It is an amazing reversal from just over a year ago, when Josh Shapiro recruited Amazon to come to Pennsylvania and build massive AI data centers, giving them billions in state tax breaks, access to Pennsylvania’s power grid and even created a new fast-track permitting process specifically for Amazon.”

Last month, Shapiro unveiled an executive order on regulating data centers, the behemoth tech facilities used to power AI.

Garrity has drawn a hard line on data centers, calling for a pause in building them in Pennsylvania, a rare Republican-backed impediment to free-market capitalism.

Mark Walters is the USA TODAY Network Pennsylvania statehouse reporter. Reach him at mwalters@usatodayco.com.