Zohran Mamdani Says Feds Abdicated on AI, Urges New Yorkers to Push Back

Zohran Mamdani Challenges Federal Inaction on AI Governance

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivered a pointed critique of federal AI regulation at The People's AI Assembly on Monday night, speaking alongside actress and activist Ilana Glazer at Webster Hall in Manhattan1

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. The event, hosted by the AI Now Institute, drew hundreds of attendees including college students, concerned parents, and tech workers, with entry lines wrapping around the block2

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. Mamdani argued that the rapid rollout of AI technology is not inevitable and urged New Yorkers to demand accountability from AI companies rather than accepting the technology's arrival as predetermined.

"Nothing has to be," Mamdani stated, addressing the overwhelming feeling many experience about AI's encroachment into daily life3

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. "There's a creep that comes with this, and there's an intent to overwhelm that leaves people feeling as if there is simply no option." The mayor's message came at a critical moment when federal AI governance remains largely absent, leaving cities to implement their own regulations.

Reckless Adoption of AI Without Accountability

Mamdani condemned what he called a "reckless adoption of technology without any kind of a reckoning with the limitations of that technology"1

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. He cited the U.S. military's February strike on a school in Iran that killed more than 150 people, including at least 123 children, as a stark example of AI's dangerous limitations. Pentagon officials involved in the internal investigation told Bloomberg that overreliance on AI in targeting was one factor in the attack1

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"There is this desire to speak about [AI] as if it is infallible, as if it cannot be questioned, as if the only people who can regulate it are the ones who are currently developing it," Mamdani said, drawing parallels to Facebook's similar arguments in 20081

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. "What it really is, is an attempt to escape any kind of accountability at any level, without also jeopardizing the potential valuation from an IPO." Anthropic is expected to debut on public markets this year, with OpenAI planning to go public in 20271

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Ban on AI Use in Schools Addresses Societal and Ethical Implications of AI

Last month, Mamdani ordered a ban on AI use in elementary and middle schools, a move that resonated strongly with parents like Glazer1

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. "It just makes me nervous. It feels so non-consensual, as though...this has to be in schools. It wasn't two years ago. Why does it have to be in schools?" Glazer asked during the event1

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The ban temporarily prohibits generative AI chatbot use in schools for students through eighth grade, while high schoolers' use will be limited to five pilot programs and critical thinking modules2

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. Mamdani said his team was inspired by a similar Norwegian ban when drafting the New York City version. The pilot programs have shown particular usefulness for students with special needs and those learning English as a second language, though Mamdani emphasized that all students could benefit from AI fluency to understand the technology rather than treating it "as almost divine"2

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House-Phishing Policy and Data Center Moratorium Expand AI Regulation

Over the summer, Mamdani introduced a policy requiring landlords, brokers, and real estate platforms to clearly disclose when property listing photos or videos are made with AI1

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. The policy aims to protect New Yorkers from getting "house-phished," or tricked by misleading listings. Both this measure and the school ban challenge the assumption that the public must simply accept AI as it arrives.

At The People's AI Assembly, Mamdani also pledged to push Governor Kathy Hochul to sign the "Responsible Data Center Development Act" into law2

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. When asked directly by Glazer if he would support the bill, Mamdani responded with a simple "yes." The proposed data center moratorium would expand Hochul's existing executive order by lowering the threshold from 50 megawatts to 20 megawatts, while requiring data centers using more than 5 megawatts to meet renewable energy and labor standards2

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. Supporters worry that Hochul's executive order could be modified or rescinded by future administrations.

Federal Government's Lack of AI Regulation Creates Vacuum

Mamdani criticized the "complete abdication of federal law" when it comes to AI governance1

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. "At a national level, when the conversation is about artificial intelligence, it's so often framed in this language of an AI arms race with China, and any of the humanistic concern, we just push to the side in a language of national competition," the mayor said1

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President Donald Trump's Superintelligence Task Force, announced earlier this month, largely focuses on allowing powerful AI companies to self-regulate rather than creating new federal restrictions1

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. This approach comes despite growing fears about AI's effect on every facet of human life, including warnings from whistleblowers at Anthropic, Google DeepMind, and OpenAI that AI could lead to human extinction1

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. Trump himself posted on Truth Social last month that "The only control or 'guardrails' that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT"2

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Mamdani said city-wide AI policy has been guided by the question of "what we can do in the face of a complete abdication of federal law"2

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. He pushed back against the narrative that competition with China takes priority over humanistic oversight and accountability. "As we are looking at what comes after this federal administration, there has to be a very different kind of framework in how we think about AI, talk about AI, the accountability we're willing to bring forward when it comes to that," Mamdani concluded1

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