“JD Vance got his Senate seat in the first place because California tech billionaires bought it for him,” Casar is expected to say, a nod to a slate of prominent tech allies Vance has cultivated in his rise through national politics. “We’re going to vote them out in 2026 and then vote Vance out in 2028.”
Peter Thiel, David Sacks and Marc Andreessen have each contributed to Vance’s campaign or helped fund his own firm.
Casar is expected to warn that AI executives are threatening millions of jobs with automation and jeopardizing Americans’ freedoms with mass surveillance, according to the speech excerpt. They are also threatening human safety with AI that is too powerful to control, he plans to say.
Casar has repeatedly warned that rogue AI agents, which have resulted in a string of hacking attempts across the internet, could pose serious risks for humanity.
Earlier this month, he introduced a bill alongside Sanders to pause AI development until a government vetting regime could be set up and ban superintelligence, a type of highly sophisticated AI that far surpasses humans’ cognitive capabilities.
That followed an appearance at a pro-human AI conference earlier this month, sharing the stage with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Steve Bannon, during which he called for the U.S. to use diplomacy to curb the AI arms race rather than try to win it. In July, he warned the Democrats are “in the wilderness” on AI and that members of his party are failing to address evidence of AI’s growing threats.