Mamdani Calls for Local Resistance Against AI Overreach

The event, hosted by the AI Now Institute, highlighted a growing divide between federal policy and municipal governance. With the Trump administration’s Superintelligence Task Force favoring industry self-regulation, Mamdani has taken matters into his own hands, recently banning AI tools in elementary and middle schools. He also introduced a mandate requiring real estate listings to disclose AI-altered imagery to prevent consumer fraud.

Mamdani’s critique extends beyond local policy, targeting a national obsession with technological competition that he believes sidelines human safety. He pointed to the Pentagon’s overreliance on AI in a lethal strike in Iran as a clear warning of what happens when systems are deployed without oversight. For Mamdani, the industry's push toward massive valuations and pending IPOs for companies like Anthropic and OpenAI is driving a reckless rollout that public officials must challenge. Glazer echoed these concerns, questioning why schools are being forced to adopt unproven technology without parental consent. Both speakers framed the current AI surge not as a technical certainty, but as a policy choice that cities can and should actively manage.