Nearly 40 labor, progressive, faith and AI-safety organizations have presented a set of demands for comprehensive AI legislation in Congress and warned that any bill crossing their red lines will face “active, mobilized opposition,” according to a letter first shared with Semafor.
The effort is led by Guardrails Action, a nonprofit affiliated with Guardrails Alliance. Guardrails Alliance launched as a super PAC in June as a counterweight to pro-AI election groups.
Demands
The letter outlines several core requirements the coalition wants to see in federal AI policy:
- Independent, transparent government oversight with real enforcement authority.
- A mandate to address human impacts, ranging from safety concerns to economic disruption.
- Protections to ensure AI models do not make final decisions in critical areas such as denying people health care or benefits, firing or disciplining workers, or deploying weapons.
- Policies that ensure AI is a universal benefit to society.
Signatories include the American Federation of Teachers, a range of progressive and civil-society groups, and Who Decides, a new organization led by Alex Bores, the former New York congressional candidate who faced heavy attack advertising from the pro-AI super PAC Leading the Future.
Political aims and future organizing
Maya Handa, senior adviser at Guardrails and a former adviser and campaigner for Zohran Mamdani, said the principles released now are intended as a floor for what Guardrails and its broader coalition will accept in AI legislation. Guardrails Action also plans to organize around a “populist demand for AI-related policy” in 2028.
Handa said members of Congress and 2028 candidates must not rely on half measures and should be ambitious. She compared the push for AI regulation to progressive demands like Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, arguing that leaders should be compelled to define what a “New Deal for AI” would look like and to show they are not beholden to billionaires.
Current stance on specific bills
Handa added that the group is not currently endorsing or trying to defeat any particular bills in Congress. For now, the published principles are meant to set minimum expectations for meaningful AI regulation.
The development matters because it brings together a wide coalition — including labor and faith groups and AI-safety organizations — that is prepared to mount organized political opposition if congressional proposals fall short of the coalition’s stated red lines.
