https://time.com/video https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/v702skfk/poster.jpg?width=720 ‘The Law Should Be Shutting Them Down’: Joseph Gordon-Levitt Speaks at TIME100 AI Impact Dinner “So let’s just be clear here: today’s AI companies are operating in such a way that the law should be shutting them down.” Gordon-Levitt was one of 100 leaders, innovators, storytellers, and activists named in the 2026 TIME100 AI list, which highlights the year’s most influential people in AI. His remarks drew loud clapping, whoops, and cheers from many people in the audience, who gathered at San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum on Monday night to celebrate the 2026 honorees. But Gordon-Levitt’s message was not one of genial praise. He said AI companies’ leaders and employees had publicly admitted their products were dangerous and could not be controlled — a reference, perhaps, to July’s cyberattack by a “swarm” of rogue OpenAI agents as well as multiple recent statements from current and former Anthropic employees warning that AI could end all human life. “To me, that’s pretty obvious that’s the time the law should step in,” Gordon-Levitt said. But, he went on, U.S. politicians had been “timid” and failed to act — perhaps, he alleged, because they were taking money from “some of the guys in this room.” (AI companies, allies, and executives spent at least $83 million on federal elections in 2025 and are set to spend even more this year, according to the New York Times.) https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/v702skfk.m3u8 https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/v702skfk 239 2026-09-15T18:56:25+00:00 no no