Thune sees role for Congress on AI — Trump does not

Majority Leader John Thune is asserting Congress' prerogative to act on AI — but he's urging a "light touch" even in the face of "consequential risks." Why it matters: On his first day back after a five-week break, Thune (R-S.D.) outlined his vision for congressional action on an issue President Trump has dismissed as a " hoax ." "Congress has a job to do," Thune said.

"I think there are some potential consequential risks associated with AI," Thune told reporters when asked if he believes AI poses an existential threat to humanity.

He added, "Guardrails there make sense to me" about cutting-edge, frontier AI models.

But Thune also said that "there are always people who are creating a worst-case-scenario-type conversation out there." Driving the news: An AI panic is rippling through Congress, but mostly on the Democratic side, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) calling to "slow down the pace of development" of AI to avoid a potentially catastrophic outcome.

Publicly, Trump is professing not to be concerned and insists that he should have the sole authority to regulate AI.

"The only control or 'guardrails' that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades," he posted on his Truth Social account Monday morning.

Zoom out: Republicans aren't questioning Trump's ability to lead the country's approach to AI regulation, but they are suggesting that Congress has a role to play.

And they aren't ruling out legislation.

"So we may need to do something," Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said.

"But there are existing guardrails, and corporate responsibility is a big part of this." Zoom in: Thune said he spoke with Sen.

Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) on Saturday night about their AI bill, which would force companies creating frontier AI models to guard against catastrophic risks and submit to federal oversight.

Thune said he has been working with Commerce Chair Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) to reintroduce the bill "hopefully soon." House GOP leaders, meanwhile, have given no indication they plan to keep the chamber in session after this week to work on AI-related legislation.

"I don't know that staying in more weeks in September is going to be the catalyst for that," Rep.

Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.), the lead Republican on the FRONTIER Act , told Axios.