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Could Abdul El-Sayed’s plan for AI companies stave off catastrophe? | Jerel Ezell

The Michigan senatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed, a Democrat, occupies a strange but increasingly common place in modern American politics. He’s praised by progressives, begrudgingly tolerated by moderate Democrats and largely demonized by Republicans. He’s also uniquely positioned to forge an all-too-elusive thread of political kinship between these perpetually-at-odds groups with his bold but contentious plan for reining in AI, called AI Under Democracy. And it couldn’t come at a better time. According to a po…

By the Truvace desk2 min read1 sourceEvidence: Emerging · 30/100 — Commentary, opinion, or narrative review · 1 independent sourceJournalismTRV-2026-2308· cite & verify
Could Abdul El-Sayed’s plan for AI companies stave off catastrophe? | Jerel Ezell

In brief

Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed has released a plan called AI Under Democracy, plus a companion proposal, AI Under Control. The plan would force tech giants to divest from frontier AI labs, regulate datacenters, and make a simple majority of board seats at influential AI companies publicly appointed or elected.

The column argues the proposals match growing public unease about AI and could bridge partisan divides. It is an opinion piece by an advocate, so the claims about effectiveness are untested, and public ownership remains politically contested as critics label it socialism.

Main points

  1. Microsoft is estimated to hold about 27% of OpenAI and Google about 14% of Anthropic; the plan would require such stakes to be divested within a transition period.
  2. The plan would slow datacenter buildout, promote local jobs and freeze residential utility costs.
  3. A 50% plus one share of board seats at influential AI companies would be publicly appointed or elected.
  4. El-Sayed has also called for pausing the most potent AI releases, banning artificial superintelligence and an AI kill switch.

The problem

Large tech firms hold major stakes in frontier AI labs, which the author says creates friction between revenue goals and public safety, while datacenters bring noise, pollution and rising utility concerns.

The rundown

The author cites an NBC News poll from this summer in which 70% of Americans were more worried than excited about AI, and a Quinnipiac poll finding 73% concerned about AI posing a threat to human existence.

On datacenters, the column notes an August poll finding only one in nine Americans would support one in their community, and El-Sayed has opposed the OpenAI-Oracle datacenter near Ann Arbor.

The board-control idea is the most controversial element; the author says it could invite socialism accusations, but cites a June report that roughly 69% of adults support AI companies transferring 50% of stock to a public sovereign wealth fund.

Sources

  1. JournalismThe Guardian2026-10-29

The debate