Mike Johnson says AI companies can self-regulate and rejects a moratorium
Speaker of the House at a press conference
“They can self-police, they can self-regulate. They don’t need the government to tell them to slow it down. If they want to slow it down, they should. But we cannot have a moratorium on the development of AI, okay, because then we will lose our edge to China.”
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
Roll Call report posted 6:23pm on September 15, 2026 and updated at 9:36pm. Reports that neither party has coalesced around a legislative plan and that action before the midterms looks unlikely.
Before the quotation
Johnson said at the same press conference that industry concerns about AI wiping out humanity are overstated, following similar comments he made on the Sunday before. This is a further statement, not a replacement for his September 13 remarks already recorded.
After the quotation
Johnson also said he and Trump are summoning AI leaders to the White House for a meeting, possibly within the following week.
How this statement is classified
Case context: Should Washington impose stronger safeguards on frontier AI?
The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.
Why this label?
The case proposition is that Washington should impose stronger safeguards on frontier AI. Johnson rejects it, saying government direction is unnecessary and framing restraint as a competitive loss to China.
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Should Washington impose stronger safeguards on frontier AI?
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