With calls to regulate AI growing, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker urged Congress to pass federal guardrails on the technology.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can’t do this state by state. This needs to be a national effort as well as an international endeavor, especially together with our allies, because AI is not going to go away,\u201d Pritzker told ABC \u201cThis Week\u201d co-anchor Jonathan Karl in an exclusive interview that aired Sunday.<\/p>\n
Pritzker touted legislation<\/a> he signed in Illinois in July requiring AI companies to conduct annual third-party audits of their safety plans and disclose safety incidents to the state. He urged Congress to make federal regulations a top priority, calling the technology \u201cdangerous on the level of nuclear weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n Gov. JB Pritzker, D-Ill., appears on ABC News’ “This Week.”<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n ABC News<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n President Donald Trump has called AI fears a \u201choax\u201d<\/a> and announced he is forming an \u201cAI Force\u201d to accelerate growth in the industry. Pritzker said that approach is a mistake.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey are okay with just letting it, you know, run rampant and let the leaders of it self-govern and self-regulate, and I think that’s a mistake because we clearly have seen that there are breakouts that they don’t control, and they haven’t had any real interest in it,\u201d Pritzker said. \u201cWe don’t need to shut it down entirely. What we need to do is make sure it doesn’t get out of control.\u201d<\/p>\n But Pritzker said he doesn\u2019t support Sen. Bernie Sanders\u2019 proposal<\/a> to ban superintelligence.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think that you’re not going to be able to is the point,\u201d Pritzker said. \u201cThat’s not going to happen because it’s not like AI doesn’t exist in the world already.\u201d<\/p>\n With less than seven weeks remaining until the midterm elections, AI has emerged as a political issue for both parties, but it is far from the only issue on which Democrats are looking to go on offense.<\/p>\n While Pritzker is running for reelection as governor, he is also supporting Democratic candidates around the country. Pritzker said his party is promoting a message focused on mitigating rising costs by giving Americans more money, partially by raising the minimum wage.<\/p>\n \u201cDemocrats are fighting to lower costs, and we’re fighting to put money in people’s pockets,\u201d Pritzker said. \u201cRemember, it isn’t often that prices go down. What we really need to do to make things more affordable, put more money in people’s pockets, and that means raising the minimum wage.\u201d<\/p>\n During an appearance on the \u201cAll In\u201d podcast Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance urged voters to \u201cgive us another chance.\u201d Pritzker pushed back against the comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe problem is they’ve had too many chances already, and they’ve made mistakes over and over and over again,\u201d Pritzker said. \u201cThey don’t deserve another chance. It’s time to give Democrats the reins, at least in Congress right now, so that they can put a check on what Donald Trump has been doing to working families.\u201d<\/p>\n Vice President JD Vance speaks during a Republican National Committee’s Midterm Rally at the Mid-America Center, Sept. 18, 2026 in Council Bluffs, Iowa.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Anna Moneymaker\/Pool via AP<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Democrats are favored to take back the House in November amid poor approval ratings<\/a> for the president and recent polling showing them far ahead in the race to control Congress. But some of those same polls also show that congressional Democrats, and the party itself, are very unpopular.<\/p>\n Asked about the Democratic party\u2019s standing, Pritzker pointed to a general distrust in government.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople don’t trust government and they don’t trust that their problems are going to be addressed. I believe that if you’re going to regain the trust of the public, it’s got to be about delivering for them,\u201d Pritzker said.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the reasons Donald Trump won the first time around was because he was promising to blow it all up. Right? He was going to drain the swamp,\u201d Pritzker added. \u201cAnd why were people looking for it? Because nobody ever did anything for them.\u201d<\/p>\n In some states this cycle, Democrats were worried not only about beating Republicans, but also some fellow Democrats. Candidates from the progressive and Democratic Socialist<\/a> wings of the party mounted several challenges to Democratic incumbents in congressional primaries this cycle, many of them successful.\u00a0<\/p>\n Republicans quickly adopted the Democratic divide as a campaign issue, with some branding them \u201ccommunists.\u201d<\/p>\n If Pritzker wins reelection as governor, his term will end in 2029. But some speculate Pritzker will pursue a run for president in 2028, before the end of his term — something he has not ruled out.\u00a0However, Pritzker did not say whether he would run for president in 2028, telling Karl that he believes the Democrats have many other strong options.<\/p>\n \u201cAll I can tell you is that I believe we have some really great people who are contemplating running for president,\u201d Pritzker said. \u201cIt may be the best bench that we’ve seen among Democrats for many, many years.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe question is, who’s bold enough, right? Who’s really putting [a] big agenda out there and has proven that they can get something done,\u201d he added. \u201cWe’ve got to go fight for the people who have had nobody fighting for them for too many years.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Anna\"](\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/e0808b98-a7e2-4197-9d49-4a302473555f\/pritzker_thisweek_abc_cw_20260920_1789914182899_hpMain_16x9.jpg?w=375 "\\"Anna\\"")
<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>![\"Bernie](\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/825ed248-a997-49f5-88b4-34d5babaa56d\/Vance-2-ap-gmh-260918_1789758148861_hpMain.jpg?w=375 "\\"Bernie")
<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>2028 and Pritzker\u2019s political future<\/strong><\/h3>\n