Shakeel Hashim
Titles as the sources gave them. In 5 entries, with 6 checked quotations.
What they said
Newest first. Each quotation was found word for word in the source.
“It reads like Anthropic’s business interests winning out over its purported safety concerns.”
“It does not allow the Commerce Department to ever set standards for AI evaluators, or for what actually counts as a “safe” AI model.”
“If Democrats retake both the House and Senate next month — as looks increasingly likely — they will be in the not-so-enviable position of having to figure out how to regulate AI.”
“At The Curve conference last week, Reps. Don Beyer and Sara Jacobs teased a bill which would establish a standard-setting federal agency and an “emergency switch” to allow the government to shut down models.”
“And this week, Sen. Maria Cantwell — who will chair the Commerce Committee if Dems take the Senate — published a legislative framework calling for “constant oversight” of frontier models by both the government and independent experts.”
“None of these bills are going to get passed this year, and even if Democrats control Congress, nothing will get passed at all unless they can convince some Republicans to peel off and vote with them”
In the Base
Every entry they appear in.
Was this the AI election?
Transformer's weekly briefing argues that AI is not a top issue for most voters before the US midterms, but that campaigns' behaviour suggests it matters at the margin. It also summarises Anthropic's IPO filing, new congressional letters, and OpenAI's training-environment fix.
Anthropic’s weak AI bill undermines its ‘safety first’ approach
Transformer's Shakeel Hashim argues that the leaked Anthropic discussion draft of a federal AI bill is weaker than the Obernolte/Trahan FRONTIER Act: evaluators can self-certify, blocking a model requires a court case, and state laws are preempted. Hashim notes Anthropic says it will revise the preemption language.
Leading the Future stumbles as pro-safety PACs gain ground
In its weekly briefing, Transformer argues that the pro-AI super PAC Leading the Future is struggling less than three weeks before the midterms, while AI safety PACs raise and spend more. The issue also summarises the week's AI policy and industry news.
‘Artificial’ is not the AI film we deserve
According to the description, Transformer's Shakeel Hashim reviews Luca Guadagnino's drama about OpenAI and judges it sprawling and less gripping than the real events. The title says Artificial is not the AI film audiences deserve. The description gives no detail on what the film shows.
Democrats prepare to battle over AI regulation
Transformer's briefing leads with Shakeel Hashim's analysis that Democrats, who Transformer says look increasingly likely to win both chambers, are floating rival AI bills: a standards agency with an emergency shutdown switch, constant oversight of frontier models, liability, a jobs programme, a superintelligence ban. It also reports OpenAI firing three safety researchers and a House chair backing a kill switch.