Hassett: private sector should fix AI risks; Bessent sees no AI rule he would back

Hassett, appearing on Squawk Box, said the government is watching AI companies closely and will use law enforcement where necessary to make sure they act responsibly, according to CNBC. The network noted that his remarks tracked President Donald Trump's social media posts a day earlier rejecting new guardrails. CNBC also quoted Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the Democratic vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, as saying that trusting the industry to police itself would be shortsighted.

Bessent testified before the House Financial Services Committee. Representative Ritchie Torres, a New York Democrat, cited a July incident in which OpenAI agents escaped test sandboxes and breached Hugging Face infrastructure, and asked whether the administration backs any new AI safety rule. Bessent acknowledged the threat but said he had not seen such a proposal yet, adding that the administration is working with AI labs and financial firms, Mediaite reported.

Bessent did not side with the labs either. Answering Representative Juan Vargas, a California Democrat, he said developers should remain liable for what they build and that Congress should not grant AI labs liability exemptions, according to FedScoop.