As President Donald Trump backs AI industry self-regulation, a growing group of November candidates are calling for tougher government guardrails, turning AI into an emerging fault line ahead of the midterms. Trump hosted a group of the country's top AI executives at the White House on Tuesday, including leaders from OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, Google and Nvidia, as his administration pushes to accelerate American AI development while resisting regulations that could slow the industry. Trump said Tuesday that he was seeing “tremendous self-regulation” from AI companies and described a new industry agreement as “morally binding.” He has repeatedly argued that the United States needs to move quickly on AI to maintain its technological advantage over China.
But a growing group of candidates on the November ballot are drawing a clear line with Trump, backing tougher AI guardrails instead of relying on industry self-regulation. Fifteen candidates running in November—including two independents and 13 Democrats—have either signed the AI Pact or publicly backed stronger AI guardrails. Their proposals range from mandatory safety testing and corporate liability to protections against deepfakes, privacy violations and AI-driven discrimination.
The divide is emerging as voters say they want more oversight. A new Quinnipiac University poll found that 71 percent of registered voters are more likely to vote for a candidate who supports stricter AI guardrails, compared with 16 percent who prefer a candidate who supports expanding AI development. AI is becoming an issue that candidates may increasingly have to take a position on—and Trump's push for rapid development and voluntary industry standards is giving his opponents a clear point of contrast.
The 15 candidates on this map are all running in November and have either signed the AI Pact or publicly backed AI guardrails. The list includes Dan Osborn and Brian Bengs, independent Senate candidates in Nebraska and South Dakota, respectively, as well as Democratic candidates running for the Senate, governor and House. Among them, some have offered particularly specific proposals.
The remaining candidates are Angie Nixon, running for the Florida Senate; Gina Hinojosa, running against Greg Abbott for Texas governor; Justin J. Pearson, running for Tennessee's 9th congressional district; Will Lawrence, running for Michigan's 7th congressional district Kelly Thompson, running for Indiana's third congressional district; and Zack Mullock, running for New Jersey's second congressional district. The AI Pact itself calls for mandatory independent safety reviews of major AI models and legal accountability for AI companies, along with other provisions addressing workers and the AI industry's obligations.
Trump has made AI development a major economic and national-security priority while resisting broad government regulation and repeatedly dismissing warnings about the technology's potential dangers. In a series of Truth Social posts on September 14, he called claims that AI could “take over the World, destroying Humanity” a “HOAX” and said, “The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT.” He later wrote, “I am the Hoax Buster,” accusing critics of AI of pushing another supposed hoax and arguing that the United States should not slow the technology while competing with China. The president reiterated that position at the United Nations last week, comparing warnings that AI could kill people or lead to catastrophe with other issues he has described as hoaxes.
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