An upcoming discussion event on the “existential threat of artificial intelligence” by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders along with scientists, academics and activists from U.S. and China has earned the ire of U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who criticized Sanders for inviting Chinese experts.
Sanders has invited Swedish-American physicist Max Tegmark, AI Safety activist David Krueger, Xue Lan, Tsinghua University professor and Zeng Yi, Dean of the Beijing Institute of AI Safety and Governance to a panel discussion titled “The existential threat of AI and the need for international cooperation” to be held on Wednesday April 29.
Taking to X, Bessent said that the U.S. is home to the most talented AI researchers in the world. Attacking Sanders for inviting two Chinese nationals to the discussion, Bessent said that the senator had once praised the communist regime of Cuba under Hugo Chavez.
The United States is home to the most talented AI researchers in the world.
Instead of harnessing American innovation, Senator Sanders is inviting foreign nationals to tell the United States how to regulate AI.
It would be like channeling Hugo Chavez to get advice on how to run… https://t.co/D4bnIeJz76
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) April 27, 2026
“Instead of harnessing American innovation, Senator Sanders is inviting foreign nationals to tell the United States how to regulate AI. It would be like channeling Hugo Chavez to get advice on how to run our economy—oh wait, the Senator from Vermont did that 20 years ago, too. The real threat to AI safety is letting any nation other than the United States set the global standard,” said Bessent.
His statement comes on the day China has blocked the acquisition of Manus AI startup by US based tech giant Meta Inc on grounds of violation of China’s laws regarding foreign investment in Chinese companies.
84-year-old Senator Sanders has been actively voicing his concerns over existential threats posed by Superintelligence.
In a recent post on Facebook, he observed, “Nearly every day, a new headline comes out about how AI is upending the world — from displacing workers, to negatively impacting our children’s emotional and cognitive well-being, to eviscerating our privacy, to threatening the integrity of our political institutions. And yet, as significant as these changes might seem, there is another AI development that could have an even more frightening impact. Increasingly, AI scientists are concerned about the possibility that, if AI becomes smarter than human beings, we could lose control over this revolutionary technology and AI could turn against the human race with cataclysmic consequences.”
Also Read: Bernie Sanders Warns AI Revolution is Led by the World’s Richest Few
