Exclusive: Thune believes Trump is open on AI guardrails despite public defiance
"I do think that the threats are real," Thune told Axios.

TL;DR
- Senator John Thune believes President Trump's public stance against AI restrictions may not reflect his private views.
- Thune suggests Trump's skepticism is more about preferring industry self-regulation over government mandates.
- Thune is seeking bipartisan support for his AI bill, which aims to place responsibility on tech companies for mitigating AI risks.
- Democrats have specific objections to the bill, including mandating pre-deployment testing and granting rulemaking authority to the Department of Commerce.
- Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has discussed AI safety and Thune's bill with the Senator.