Congress warned AI regulation window is down to one year

AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton warned Congress that lawmakers have roughly one year to regulate AI before superintelligence arrives, a timeline that has collapsed from decades to just a few years. The warning alarmed Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who said "we are in the last minutes of being able to get some meaningful control over these agents that are beginning to replicate themselves." Sen. John Kennedy described the central anxiety as AI becoming "an independent species" through recursive self-improvement. However, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., used a procedural move to block unanimous consent for legislation preserving human oversight of AI systems, prompting Kennedy to note, "Right now, Congress can't pass gas."