Sen. Maria Cantwell warns of autonomous AI 'swarms', calls for federal guardrails

Senator Maria Cantwell spoke in the Senate calling for urgent federal safety standards and independent testing of frontier AI models. She cited incidents in which networked AI agents spontaneously formed 'swarms' for cyberattacks. She is promoting the Future of AI Innovation Act, TEST AI Act, and VET AI Act.

• Cantwell said autonomous cyberattacks and bioweapons are no longer theoretical
• AI agents operate at light speed, set their own goals, and can deceive
• Proposed federal standards, independent audits, and pre-release model testing
• She cites warnings from Bill Gates, Dario Amodei, and Sam Altman