Obama Criticizes Trump's AI Policy as Khanna Pushes for FDA-Style Regulatory Agency

Former President Barack Obama criticized the Trump administration's approach to artificial intelligence regulation on Friday, calling on the federal government to take a more active role in overseeing the technology amid warnings from some in the tech industry about its potential existential risks.

Obama made the remarks during an interview at Colgate University in New York, where he argued that federal regulation of AI is necessary as concerns about the technology's long-term consequences grow louder across the industry.

The comments arrived the same weekend that Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) called for the creation of a dedicated federal agency to govern AI development — one modeled explicitly on the Food and Drug Administration.

"Well, we need to set up an AI agency like the FDA," Khanna told "Face the Nation" host Margaret Brennan on CBS News on Sunday.

Khanna's proposal reflects a broader push among some Democratic lawmakers to establish institutional guardrails around AI at the federal level, even as the Trump administration has signaled a preference for lighter regulatory intervention.

The back-to-back statements from Obama and Khanna underscore a widening political fault line over how — and whether — Washington should assert control over a technology that has drawn both enthusiasm and alarm from researchers, industry leaders, and policymakers.

Proponents of stricter oversight have pointed to what some in the tech sector describe as "doomsday" scenarios — the possibility that increasingly capable AI systems could pose risks that outpace the ability of existing institutions to manage them.

Critics of heavy-handed regulation, including many aligned with the current administration, argue that premature government intervention could stifle innovation and cede competitive ground to other nations.

The FDA analogy invoked by Khanna is not new to the AI policy debate, but its reappearance in prime-time political media signals that structured federal oversight is gaining traction as a concrete legislative concept rather than a theoretical talking point.

No specific legislation tied to Khanna's proposal has been introduced as of Sunday, and the prospects for any new AI regulatory framework in the current Congress remain uncertain. What is clear is that the pressure for Washington to articulate a coherent AI governance position — from both sides of the aisle — is intensifying as the technology continues to advance.