Jon Ossoff calls for inspectors at AI research labs amid industry fears

U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff is calling for far-reaching new safeguards on artificial intelligence, joining a growing debate in Washington over whether the technology is outpacing efforts to contain its risks.

At his rally in Athens on Sunday, the Democrat called for inspectors inside leading AI labs and an international agreement governing the technology.

“A capable president would move swiftly to secure and reassure the American people. Rush inspectors into frontier labs, fortify the nation against bioterrorism, demand legislation from Congress and lead the world toward an AI treaty,” Ossoff said.

“But President Trump is compromised. A capable Congress would engage every committee in investigation and legislation to act swiftly and wisely. Those CEOs would be under oath next week. But instead the president and the speaker of the House sit on their hands and hope for the best.”

It’s not Ossoff’s first warning about AI. He’s backed tougher regulations before and criticized the use of generative technology in campaign ads.

But Sunday’s remarks were a more urgent call for government intervention.

AI is quickly becoming the focus of a national political debate. Warnings of doomsday scenarios from AI researchers intensified last week, while former President Barack Obama has urged Democrats to develop a sharper agenda for addressing the technology’s risks. Over the weekend, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said the industry should slow down to make sure safety measures are in place.

Congressional leaders in both parties are discussing new guardrails, although there’s little agreement yet on what they should look like.

Ossoff portrayed Washington as dangerously unprepared for the challenge, calling Congress an “ancient establishment barely capable of email, sleepwalks into a technological revolution, while the president dismantles precautions and calls us fools for worrying.”

He made the issue personal, invoking his two young daughters.

“I refuse to leave my girls a world as dark and dangerous and cruel as this one threatens to become, and I can’t stop thinking about it,” he said.

Things to know

Credit: Frankie Cole

Credit: Frankie Cole

Good morning! We’re 50 days from the midterms. You have 21 days left to register to vote. Here are three things to know for today:

Old rivals

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Keisha Lance Bottoms’ former nemesis is backing her new one.

Atlanta City Council member Mary Norwood this morning endorsed Republican Rick Jackson for governor, saying the billionaire executive will “represent us very well, making great decisions every day.”

There’s plenty of history behind that endorsement. Bottoms defeated Norwood in Atlanta’s bitterly fought 2017 mayoral runoff by about 800 votes, a virtual replay of the 2009 contest when Kasim Reed edged Norwood by 714 votes.

Party affiliation was one of the biggest flashpoints in both those contests.

Norwood has called herself a “progressive independent” and said she voted for Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton. But her critics in deep-blue Atlanta spent years casting her as a closet Republican.

Bottoms and her Democratic allies leaned hard into that argument in the closing stretch of the 2017 campaign. The Democratic Party of Georgia even aired an ad warning a Norwood victory would hand the city over to Trump.

That elicited a sharp response back then from Norwood spokesperson Billy Linville, who accused the party of a “false and misleading” attack.

Here’s another 2026 twist: Linville is now leading a Jackson-backed coalition aimed at persuading Democrats and swing voters to oppose Bottoms.

Scary stuff

Credit: AP Photo/Rick Rycroft

Credit: AP Photo/Rick Rycroft

Sgt. Terry Gore with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office works with the internet crimes against children task force. Unfortunately, he’s very busy.

Gore told state lawmakers last week his agency has had 206 child sexual abuse material cases since January.

“This has been getting extremely bad every year,” he said.

The seeming ubiquity of these crimes have prompted a host of vigilante groups to launch their own investigations. WANF investigative reporter Andy Pierrotti told lawmakers he spent three days following some groups who seek to expose predators by posing as children online. He said the groups found people wanting to meet with them after just two hours.

“It’s interesting the amount of vigilantes that are popping up on social media that are doing this,” said state Rep. Rob Clifton, a Republican from Evans and chair of Blue-Ribbon Study Committee on the Impact of Online Platforms on Georgia Youth. “It’s — I don’t know the word to use — refreshing and scary all at the same time.”

A New York Times investigation last year found some of these vigilantes are becoming violent, posting their confrontations online. And earlier this year, a man accused of killing his daughter’s alleged abuser won the Republican nomination for sheriff of his county. The murder charge was eventually dropped.

Listen up

Credit: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

Credit: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

Today on the “Politically Georgia” podcast, Greg Bluestein and Tia Mitchell answer questions from listeners about the Republican midterm convention in Dallas. They also discuss the national Republican investment in Georgia and the continued deployment of Georgia National Guard troops in Washington.

You can listen and subscribe to “Politically Georgia” for free on Apple Podcasts, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

Have a question or comment for the show? Email us at politicallygeorgia@ajc.com or give us a call at 770-810-5297 and you could be featured on a future episode.

Crunch time

Credit: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Credit: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

This could be the last week that both the U.S. House and Senate are in session together until after the midterms. Although they have already pushed a government funding deadline to December, it remains to be seen what else lawmakers will get off their plates before they depart for a long recess.

Pressure is building for national regulations on the artificial intelligence industry, including whether to implement oversight over the development of AI models or address data centers and their impact on power grids and other resources.

The House is also scheduled to vote on a Senate-passed bill that would impose new sanctions on Russia. And there could be yet another vote on a war powers resolution to limit further strikes in Iran.

Today in Washington

Help wanted

Four years ago, roughly 200,000 voters cast ballots for Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a phenomenon known as “split-ticket” voting. These voters could play a big role in Georgia’s 2026 midterms.

Are you one of them? If so, we’d love to talk with you for an upcoming story. Click here to email reporter Sophia Eppley.

Shoutouts

Credit: Courtesy photo

Credit: Courtesy photo

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Before you go

The operations management company Amentum says it is cutting 77 jobs at Fort Gordon’s Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center, the Augusta Chronicle reports. The company had recently lost its support contract involving the hospital, per the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

That’ll do it for us today. As always, you can send your best scoops, gossip and insider information to greg.bluestein@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com, patricia.murphy@ajc.com and adam.beam@ajc.com.