Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made quite the comparison while weighing in on artificial intelligence leaders who have increasingly made calls for stronger government guardrails and a slowdown in AI’s accelerating development.
Axios co-founder Mike Allen, appearing on “The Axios Show” on Saturday, asked Bessent if he believes that the warnings that advanced artificial intelligence could eventually kill all humans are simply “BS.”
“I believe that we have to be prepared for every occasion,” Bessent replied.
“This alarmism without solutions by some of the AI community — that’s not leadership,” he added.
“It’s not just some in the community,” Allen interjected, saying CEOs of AI companies are “basically screaming for regulation, warning of losing control of AI.”
Bessent responded, “Well, then they should slow down.” He then compared AI’s top leaders to Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a fictional cannibalistic serial killer and anti-hero. Lecter was played by Oscar-winning Anthony Hopkins in the 1991 film “The Silence of the Lambs.”
Bessent added, “I mean, it’s kind of like Hannibal Lecter: ‘Stop me before I kill again.’”
The Treasury secretary’s comments align with those from other government leaders who have argued that AI executives should take more accountability.
House Speaker Mike Johnson told CNN’s Jake Tapper last month that AI CEOs “need to take personal responsibility first, and we need to get them all in a room at the same time and agree on what the guardrails are.”
President Donald Trump, who slammed doomsday fears about AI as a “HOAX,” met with AI CEOs at the White House late last month to sign a voluntary safety pact to manage AI risks.
Trump told reporters at the White House, “I think I’m seeing tremendous self-policing. And they understand that they have to self-police.”
Listen to Bessent’s comments below.
