Shapiro calls AI-safety warnings "regulatory capture"
Ben ShapiroHost, The Ben Shapiro Show
Commentator Ben Shapiro said AI risks are being exaggerated by people with "a very strong interest in regulatory capture" who want to write the regulations themselves. In a separate interview the same day, he pointed to Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon holding an event with the whistleblower from Anthropic and said the push to stop AI "feels like a coordinated operation" in favor of government regulation.
“It feels like a coordinated operation to stop the progress of AI in favor of government regulation. I think one argument is that the risks are being exaggerated by people who have a very strong interest in regulatory capture, who want to write the regulations themselves.”
Original video
Original text
Where this statement fits
Is Anthropic acting responsibly while advancing toward recursive self-improvement?
Jacob Coxon resigned from Anthropic and said that Anthropic and OpenAI are acting irresponsibly by racing toward self-improving superintelligence. In a fuller interview, he praised Anthropic's current practices and denied that it was already cutting corners; his criticism concerns the competitive race and the pressures he expects it to create. Responses dispute the evidence and timing of catastrophic-risk forecasts, whether continued work inside AI labs can be justified, and whether governments should pause development or regulate its continuation. The record distinguishes these disagreements from arguments about the rhetoric of public warnings.
Source and context
Original video
About this source
Grabien's transcript excerpt of Ben Shapiro's appearance on Fox Business's Kudlow. Shapiro says Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon are holding an event with the whistleblower from Anthropic to suggest AI needs to be stopped, and Larry Kudlow interjects "From Anthropic." Fox Business posted the segment under the headline "Ben Shapiro warns Democrats' push for AI regulation is a 'coordinated operation'."
Original text
About this source
CNN's rush transcript of NewsNight with Abby Phillip. After clips of Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and President Trump, Phillip asks Ben Shapiro whether the argument is that AI is not as powerful as its makers suggest or that China will build it anyway. Shapiro gives two arguments: that the risks are being exaggerated by people seeking regulatory capture, and that China will race ahead regardless. CNN notes the rush transcript may be updated.
Before the quotation
On Fox Business's Kudlow, Shapiro said Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon were holding an event with the whistleblower from Anthropic to suggest that AI needs to be stopped. On CNN NewsNight the same day, Abby Phillip asked him whether the argument was that AI is not as powerful as its developers make it seem or that China will build it anyway.
After the quotation
He added that most of the people pushing apocalyptic talk run closed models, fear open models that could challenge them, and would benefit from a regulatory harbor against product liability. He then cited a second argument: China will race ahead regardless.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Shapiro does not dispute Anthropic's technical claims directly but reframes the recursive-self-improvement safety warnings as self-interested 'regulatory capture,' challenging the characterization of the warnings as disinterested rather than defending or condemning Anthropic's conduct outright.
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- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Anthropic
Corrections to this statement
These notices document reporting corrections, classification changes, and topic-label updates.
Reporting correction
Correction to: Statement by Ben Shapiro
- Previous language
- Speaker: Philip DeFranco. Quotation: "It feels like a coordinated operation to stop the progress of AI in favor of government regulation... a very strong interest in regulatory capture, who wanna write the regulations themselves." Source: Ben Shapiro Show, Ep. 2507: "Democrats Push AI Doomerism" (September 15, 2026).
- Corrected language
- Speaker: Ben Shapiro. Quotation: "It feels like a coordinated operation to stop the progress of AI in favor of government regulation." (Fox Business, Kudlow) and "I think one argument is that the risks are being exaggerated by people who have a very strong interest in regulatory capture, who want to write the regulations themselves." (CNN NewsNight), both on September 14, 2026.
We attributed Ben Shapiro's remarks to Philip DeFranco in error. We also could not confirm the quoted words in the member-only Daily Wire clip we cited, so we now cite the September 14 broadcasts where Shapiro said them and quote the CNN passage from the network's transcript.
This corrects our account of what happened.
Grabien's transcript excerpt of Ben Shapiro's appearance on Fox Business's Kudlow. Shapiro says Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon are holding an event with the whistleblower from Anthropic to suggest AI needs to be stopped, and Larry Kudlow interjects "From Anthropic." Fox Business posted the segment under the headline "Ben Shapiro warns Democrats' push for AI regulation is a 'coordinated operation'."
CNN's rush transcript of NewsNight with Abby Phillip. After clips of Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and President Trump, Phillip asks Ben Shapiro whether the argument is that AI is not as powerful as its makers suggest or that China will build it anyway. Shapiro gives two arguments: that the risks are being exaggerated by people seeking regulatory capture, and that China will race ahead regardless. CNN notes the rush transcript may be updated.
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- Shapiro calls AI-safety warnings "regulatory capture"
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The Dispute Index. "Shapiro calls AI-safety warnings "regulatory capture"". First published: 2026-09-17. Last updated: 2026-09-25. https://disputeindex.com/events/851-commentator-ben-shapiro-said-ai-risks-are-being