Obama Wants AI Slowed Down So Washington Can ... Save Us. Yeah, That's It

I read Barack Obama’s latest and had to laugh.

If I don't laugh I may never stop throwing up.

The man who spent eight years telling us he had a pen and a phone is now encouraged that the big AI labs want to tap the brakes, and even more encouraged that this should become a public debate — which, translated from Obama-ese, means Washington should start writing the rules before the robots get any ideas.

He’s not an accelerationist, he’s not a doomer, he’s just the guy in the middle who thinks “concrete proposals, laws and regulations” from the same town that gave us the DMV and the IRS website is the grown-up move. Project Blueprint is already lining up Democratic-friendly handlers to broker peace between the labs and the people who want to regulate them.

Voluntary standards won’t be enough, he says. Of course they won’t. Once D.C. smells a new industry, the only thing that moves at lightning speed is the paperwork.

I was encouraged this week to see the leaders of the frontier labs agree on the need for them to slow down the pace of AI development. Given the stakes, it’s a good and necessary first step.

But I’m even more encouraged by the growing recognition that how this powerful new…
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) September 14, 2026

Post continues:

... technology develops should be at the center of our public debate.
I’ve been watching the progress on AI for over a decade now, and one thing that’s clear to me is that the potential impact of this technology is not overhyped. It’s also moving at lightning speed – and even faster than those who are engineering it can keep up with.
I’m not an AI accelerationist who believes it will lead to some techno-utopia, and I’m not a doomer who thinks it will inevitably lead to humanity’s destruction.
But whether this technology results in amazing breakthroughs in medicine, energy and education or unleashes huge economic disruptions, greater inequality, and potential catastrophe will depend on the choices that we make right now – choices that should be made not just by the companies involved, but by all of us.

This guy really likes the sound of his own voice, you know?

So, we need to use this time to structure a more open, public and democratic conversation about AI. Building on the statements that the frontier companies have already made, some leaders in the space announced they’re launching what they call Project Blueprint to help tech… https://t.co/pUAxgXXe23
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) September 14, 2026

Blah blah blah blah ...

But at the end of the day, voluntary standards made by a handful of tech companies won’t be enough. We need government – and specifically our leaders in Washington – to get proactive in coming up with concrete proposals, laws and regulations that deal with serious safety…
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) September 14, 2026

You get the picture. Government is always his answer to anything, as long as he can find some way to benefit from it. That's who he is.