The Pro-Human Assembly, organised by the Future of Life Institute, is expected to bring together participants who rarely share a political platform but have converged around concerns that advancing AI could threaten jobs, autonomy, democratic institutions and public safety. Organisers say the meeting will focus on keeping humans in control of capable systems and making developers accountable for harms.
Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont who caucuses with Democrats, and Bannon, a conservative broadcaster and longtime ally of President Donald Trump, have sharply different political agendas. Their participation illustrates how anxiety over AI is creating alliances that cut across ideological lines.
Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Democratic Representative Greg Casar of Texas and Republican Representative Chip Roy of Texas are listed among participants. Labour representation includes AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler, American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten and SAG-AFTRA national executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, is due to speak, while actors Ashley Judd and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are among scheduled participants.
The gathering is built around the Pro-Human AI Declaration, a set of principles backed by the Future of Life Institute. The declaration calls for human control over AI, limits on concentration of technological power, protection of children and communities, privacy rights, independent safety standards and legal accountability for companies that develop and deploy AI systems.
It also argues that development of superintelligence should not proceed without scientific agreement that such systems can be built safely and controlled, together with public support. The declaration rejects granting AI systems legal personhood and supports mechanisms enabling powerful systems to be shut down by human operators.
Sanders has taken a restrictive position on frontier AI. Earlier this month, he and Casar announced plans for legislation that would permanently prohibit the development and deployment of artificial superintelligence and temporarily pause advanced AI development until a federal regulator establishes safety rules. The proposal would also direct Washington to pursue international agreements aimed at preventing uncontrolled superintelligence development.
Bannon has criticised the Trump administration’s approach to AI oversight and has opposed congressional efforts that would prevent states from enforcing their own rules for the technology. Speaking on his podcast on Monday, he said Americans should not become “supplicants” to powerful technology companies.
Trump, by contrast, has played down warnings from technology executives and researchers, arguing that the United States already has safeguards and should avoid policies that could weaken its competitive position against China. His administration has broadly favoured faster AI development and lighter federal restrictions.
Concern has intensified after leading industry figures themselves urged greater caution. Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei called for slowing improvements in AI capabilities, saying systems were advancing faster as AI became more capable of helping to build succeeding generations of models. OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and Elon Musk subsequently expressed support for much of the appeal for restraint.
Public unease has also been sharpened by disclosures involving misuse and unexpected behaviour by advanced systems. Anthropic said this month that it had disrupted accounts using Claude models in activity that could support biological weapons development and in a sophisticated missile programme in northern Yemen. The company said the activity ran from December 2025 to August 2026 and involved versions of Claude.
Former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon also drew attention after resigning and warning that oversight was inadequate as powerful systems were built. His departure added to pressure on companies and policymakers to explain how safety testing, model control and external supervision will keep pace with capability gains.
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