Will Recent Developments Change Your AI Risk Management Strategy?

Will recent developments and the November 2026 election impact the direction of Artificial Intelligence Risk Management? See the Wall Street Journal's Risk and Compliance Journal on September 14th, 2026 posted below. I have posted recent articles on the topic on my ERMLab(c) page.

Let me know what you think.

David Smagalla, Dow Jones Risk Journal

The Morning Risk Report: Congress Is Suddenly Waking Up to the AI Doomsday Threat

Good morning. A groundswell of urgency over artificial intelligence is surging in Congress amid growing fears that the technology could destroy civilization.

After years of limited actions, dozens of lawmakers are now touting new proposals to regulate artificial-intelligence models that have stepped up their capabilities.

• ‘Kill switches’ proposed: House Democrats are considering creating a select committee focused on AI should they take over the chamber after the midterm elections, according to people familiar with the matter. Rep. Ro Khanna (D., Calif.) on Wednesday called for a new federal regulatory agency similar to those for nuclear energy and airplanes, and backed so-called kill switches that could shut down AI systems when they behave dangerously.

• Pressure builds: The bipartisan concerns ratcheted up this week after a departing Anthropic researcher warned that the lab and its competitors are building systems they won’t be able to control in a dire missive that went viral.

• Past inaction: There is little indication a gridlocked Congress will produce the first federal AI laws overseeing models. Past efforts to use working groups and new committees to streamline AI policymaking have failed to advance bills beyond basic proposals and road maps. Lawmakers face a heap of hurdles, from divergent views on the scope of what limits to apply to having little time in session ahead of midterm elections.

• Industry leaders take notice: The leaders of three of the biggest AI companies agreed that they needed to slow development of the technology before their advances create a menace that can’t be controlled. It was a rare display of unity by Elon Musk, Sam Altman and Dario Amodei, who have been spending tens of billions of dollars to develop evermore powerful artificial intelligence models. Altman even suggested that his company, OpenAI, may need to delay its much-anticipated IPO to focus on safety.