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By Irie Sentner |
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THE CATCH-UP |
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POLITICO Host of The Conversation Dasha Burns Speaks Chair of President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology David Sacks at POLITICO Decoded Summit on September 16th, 2026 in Washington D.C. | Rob Lamkey Jr. for POLITICO |
THE SACKS SONGBOOK: David Sacks, President Donald Trump’s AI whisperer, brushed aside fears that the rapidly evolving technology could lead to human extinction, casting the alarm bells ringing from Silicon Valley to Washington this week as mere media-driven “fearmongering” and projecting that there’s no chance of an apocalyptic outcome — as long as labs “do the right things.” “The hoax is promoting this idea that humanity is going to be extinct,” Sacks told Playbook’s Dasha Burns today at POLITICO’s Decoded Summit in D.C., echoing the language Trump has repeatedly used to dismiss AI fears and praising the president’s “unique” ability to defy the conventional wisdom. “This idea that AI is going to end civilization within a very short amount of time” is “being pumped through the media right now,” Sacks added. That puts Trump and the White House at odds with both voters — who broadly fear the risks AI poses, according to the latest POLITICO Poll — and the tech CEOs building the world’s most advanced AI models, who called this week to slow down development over concerns that AI has an uncomfortably high probability of mass extinction. Elon Musk has said the technology has a “20% chance of annihilation.” Anthropic chief Dario Amodei has put that number around 25%. Sacks called that doomsday proselytizing a “psyop” and echoed other Republicans who have compared it to the panic around climate change, another potentially calamitous route of human downfall Trump has labeled as a “hoax.” “What’s happening right now is that the media is pumping out all this fear that makes the public alarmed, and then they poll on that, and then sure enough, the polling reflects that sense of alarm,” Sacks said. “Then they take those polls to the politicians and say, ‘See, the public is afraid.’ So then you get all these politicians saying, ‘Oh, we have to do something.’” Sacks noted that AI companies are already liable for any harm their products could cause and should take it upon themselves to ensure their tech is safe. He said he was open to additional regulations, but that “I just want to make sure that the ‘something’ that we do actually makes sense.” Read more from POLITICO’s Owen Dahlkamp and Aaron Mak HARD TIMES FOR HARRIS: Reid Hoffman, the LinkedIn co-founder and influential Democratic donor, dumped cold water on the prospect of Kamala Harris running for president again in 2028. “I think it would be a very challenging path for her and it’s going to be a very noisy field,” Hoffman said when asked whether he would support another bid from the former VP. Hoffman, who supported Harris in 2024, said last year that the Democratic Party “really did alienate” parts of Silicon Valley during that election cycle. Hoffman also didn’t shut the door on supporting Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) if she decides to run. “It depends a little bit,” he said when asked if he would be open to endorsing her. “I think she is much more pragmatic than people give her credit for.” Asked about which prospective 2028ers are having productive conversations about regulating the potential harms of AI products, Hoffman pointed to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, noting that he’s had “in-depth conversations” with them. More from Aaron More toplines from the summit:
- House Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie said House action on AI guardrails might not happen until 2027, POLITICO’s Mia McCarthy reports. Guthrie pointed to a bipartisan bill from Reps. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) and Lori Trahan (D-Mass.) as a starting point, but said “a bill of that magnitude needs work.”
- Guthrie also pushed back against strict AI regulation. “If you want to say, ‘We’re just gonna turn this over to a handful of elite educated people in a room’ … well, that’s how Europe’s run,” Guthrie said. He added that any guardrails must not hinder the U.S.’s ability to compete in the AI race against China. More from POLITICO’s Katherine Long and Gabby Miller
- Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) took the exact opposite position, questioning the idea that competition with China should dissuade the U.S. from regulating the technology, Mia and Aaron report. “The AI race is not an arms race that you win,” he said. “It’s an arms race that we need to end, and we need to protect the American people.”
- Sarah Heck, Anthropic’s policy chief, aligned more with the White House’s view that the U.S. can’t make AI safer if it falls behind China in the global tech race. “The United States needs to stay in the lead on AI, and you can’t do safety from second place,” Heck said. More from Gabby and POLITICO’s Christine Mui
- Clem Delangue, CEO of Hugging Face which fell victim to an autonomous AI cyberattack, said the government should do more to require transparency by advanced AI models — and ensure their developers are held liable for harms their products cause, per Owen. That doesn’t mean Congress needs to create a raft of new regulations prohibiting malicious cyberattacks, but he said companies whose products inflict damage should not be able to dodge responsibility.
Good Wednesday afternoon. This is Irie Sentner. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Get in touch.
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A message from bp: From refinery to pump: How bp helps keep Americans moving
Once fuel leaves a refinery, it has to reach the right market, in the right volume, at the right time — moving through pipelines, terminals, rail or water to retail sites and commercial customers across the country.
bp's supply, trading and shipping teams track demand, transportation routes and how to move fuel efficiently and reliably.
Read the story |
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7 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW |
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1. FED UP: “Fed approves first rate hike in three years, pencils in more,” by POLITICO’s Victoria Guida: “The decision comes less than seven weeks out from elections that will determine the balance of power in Congress, and as investors have already been driving long-term rates to nearly two-decade highs. The Fed’s benchmark rate is now set between 3.75% and 4%.” 2. SEE YOU FOR THE LAME DUCK: Speaker Mike Johnson canceled tomorrow’s planned votes, sending members home early for a seven-week recess ahead of Election Day, Mia reports. The move allows some members to avoid taking a vote on an impeachment resolution against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), which would have come up for floor action otherwise. Other scheduled votes got moved up to later today. 3. SO MUCH FOR CONVENTIONAL WISDOM: Coming out of the midterms convention, Republicans were hoping they would all be singing from the same hymnal. One week later, the messaging is messy as Trump heaves in different directions on AI, Flock cameras, the Supreme Court and Ireland — to name a few, POLITICO’s Alex Gangitano and Myah Ward report. “It’s incumbent on the White House and others to drive the message from the top down — but we’ve demonstrated, for a while, that that’s not a strong suit,” said a GOP strategist working on multiple battleground races. “We come out of the convention, and this week we’re talking about anything but what we said we’d talk about last week.” Thanks, but no thanks: “GOP candidates are largely ignoring Trump’s midterm advice, Post analysis shows,” by WaPo’s Clara Ence Morse and colleagues: “A review of over a million social media messages reveals that Republicans haven’t heeded the president’s call to act like he’s on the ballot and promise $5,000 payouts. … Republican candidates are sticking to their own messages, not Trump’s, as they navigate an increasingly difficult political landscape marked by high consumer prices, a protracted war in Iran and a president whose own approval rating has stayed stubbornly low, the analysis shows.” 4. TALES FROM THE CRYPTO: The collapse of the Senate’s crypto bill “highlights the limits of what money can buy in Washington and offers a potential warning for other tech interests that have sought to replicate the crypto playbook of plowing eye-popping sums of money into super PACs to build influence in Washington,” POLITICO’s Jasper Goodman reports. “For the crypto industry, all the spending couldn’t overcome growing political backlash on the left over Trump’s crypto entanglements, costing the votes of a group of Democrats whose support was required to pass the bill.” Mood music: “Record Diesel Prices Hit at Worst Time in Key Battleground States,” by Bloomberg’s Mark Niquette and Steven Dennis: “The costs of diesel and home heating oil have surged faster than gasoline in recent months, particularly hammering states that are critical battlegrounds in November’s midterm congressional elections — just as mail-in ballots arrive.” 5. GOLDEN STATE DISPATCH: Allies of Karen Bass are waking up to the reality that the LA mayor’s reelection bid is in trouble, POLITICO’s Melanie Mason reports. For months, Bass’ circle was sure she could hold off her progressive challenger, Nithya Raman, despite her low public approval ratings. But the confidence is crumbling. “I think you have to give Nithya the advantage. I really do,” one Bass ally told Melanie. “I think we could turn that around but the energy is with Nithya, and it’s unfortunate.” 6. FRAUD FRAUD? “The White House’s ‘Fraud Ledger’ Includes Misleading Claims,” by The Washington Sun’s Natalie Alms: “The Washington Sun’s review of the ledger found that it includes misleading and unsubstantiated claims, and the White House has not provided details about how the administration crunched its fraud numbers. When asked by The Sun, a senior White House official said that the ‘methodology was produced by fraud experts from within the Task Force and communicated to agencies.’” 7. FOR YOUR RADAR: Erika Kirk informed Utah officials last week that she may take legal action against Utah Valley University and the state, charging that security gaps at the school allowed an assassin to get close enough to Charlie Kirk to fatally shoot him. “Through a series of stunning failures and reckless decisions, the UVU Parties created a foreseeable danger to Charlie. Those decisions ultimately rendered Mr. Kirk helpless to the rooftop shooter,” Erika Kirk’s lawyers wrote. More from WSJ’s Mariah Timms
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TALK OF THE TOWN |
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SAD NEWS — “The Obamas’ family dog Sunny dies, the former president says,” via AP: “Sunny, a 13-year-old Portuguese water dog the Obamas got in 2013 while living in the White House, died Tuesday. ‘We got Sunny at the start of our second term in the White House, and all of us – including our first dog, Bo – immediately fell in love,’ [former President Barack Obama] said on social media.” FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: WHITE HOUSE ARRIVAL LOUNGE — Andrew Ott is now a special assistant to the president working in the Office of Legislative Affairs at the White House. He most recently was acting assistant secretary for legislative affairs at DHS. OUT AND ABOUT — Netflix hosted a clips-and-conversation event at the Motion Picture Association last night for “A Different World.” The conversation, moderated by Geoff Bennett, featured Felicia Pride, Maleah Joi Moon, Darryl M. Bell and Ashley Jackson. SPOTTED: Reps. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.), Nikema Williams (D-Ga.) and Alma Adams (D-N.C.) and Diana Oo. — The NAACP hosted its inaugural Advancement List Reception at Long View Gallery last night during Congressional Black Caucus Week. Guests danced and networked around a live DJ, and attending honorees received gold Advancement List pins. SPOTTED: Phil Lewis, Trovon Williams, Toine Aguilar, Ashley Allison, Jamitress Bowden, Tanya Coats, Krystal Gutierrez, Frantesha Lester, Jalen Lawson, Kendyll Myles, Presley Nelson Jr., Uzoji Nwanaji, Jamaji Nwanaji-Enwerem, Angelica Willis, Sharday Urtarte and Brandon Cahee. — America’s Credit Unions hosted its Congressional Reception yesterday in the Capitol Building’s HC-5. Usher's “Yeah!” briefly drew most attendees’ attention. SPOTTED: Reps. Gil Cisneros (D-Calif.), Judy Chu (D-Calif.), Derek Tran (D-Calif.), Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) and Dave Min (D-Calif.), Scott Simpson and Kathleen Coulombe. — Meridian International Center hosted its Fall Welcome to Washington Reception last night, welcoming new ambassadors and diplomatic leaders to D.C. SPOTTED: African Union Ambassador Constância Adelina Gaspar, Chilean Ambassador Andrés Ergas-Heymann, Congolese Ambassador Basile Ikouebe, Czech Ambassador Jakub Kulhánek, Estonian Ambassador Hannes Hanso, Indonesian Ambassador Dwisuryo Indroyono Soesilo, Kazakh Ambassador Magzhan Ilyassov, South African Ambassador Roelf Meyer, Suriname Ambassador Marlon Mohamed-Hoesein, Turkmenistan Ambassador Esen Aydogdyyev, David Bohigian, Drew Maloney, Elizabeth Duggal, Stephenie Foster, Kimberly Bassett, Andy Rabens, Steve Morrissey, Combiz Abdolrahimi, Leila Afas, Nicole Nason, Enrique and Paola Perret, Grace Bender, Sam Feist, Kimberly Dozier and Emma Mears. TRANSITIONS — Fatima Abbas is joining Holland & Knight as a partner. She most recently was director of the Office of Tribal and Native Affairs at the Treasury Department. … Andrew Byrnes has joined Civitech as general counsel. He most recently was principal at Byrnes Impact and is an Obama Administration alum. … Rebecca Valentine is joining Crowell & Moring as a partner. She most recently worked at the DOJ. Ryan Harsch will join the firm as a senior counsel in New York. He most recently worked at the FTC. Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com or text us on Signal here. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Giuseppe Macri and deputy editors Garrett Ross and Kyler Alvord. |
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