CNBC Television · Sep 24, 2026
With Brad Gerstner, Founder and CEO of Altimeter Capital
The Commerce Department's Center for AI Standards and Innovation reviews every frontier AI model before it is released, Brad Gerstner said, and the US pulled one model off the shelf this year to make it safer before release.
The anchors asked whether AI needs a bigger platform for regulation. Gerstner said the rules already exist and are working without slowing anyone down.
"Remember the course that we are on is both safe and fast."
Brad Gerstner, founder and CEO of Altimeter Capital, spoke to CNBC from the White House, where AI executives had gathered alongside talks between the US and China.
The full segment is covered here so you can skip it.
Here are the 4 arguments that matter.
Key Takeaways
The US already reviews every frontier AI model before release, through a Commerce Department office
He said the US pulled a model called Mythos this year to make it more cyber safe
The labs test their own models too, and new ideas such as independent monitors and peer review are coming
A pause on AI would disarm the US economically and militarily against countries that will not slow down
The White House will not cede AI authority to a UN-style body, but will cooperate with China where it can
1. A Cop on the Beat
An anchor asked what could come out of the talks between the two countries on AI, given what the president had already posted on Truth Social, and whether a bigger platform for AI regulation and safety is needed.
The US-China talks on AI are unusually frequent
Gerstner called it a historic meeting between two of the world's most important economies, and the second of what looks like four meetings this year. He said that level of dialogue, including on superintelligence, is extraordinary in itself, and that he expected the subject to come up that day.
The course is to keep going, safely and quickly
The president's post that morning, he said, was a call to stay the course.
"Remember the course that we are on is both safe and fast." — Brad Gerstner
"The idea that we don't have any regulation is a little bit crazy." — Brad Gerstner
A Commerce Department office reviews every frontier model
The Center for AI Standards and Innovation, part of the Commerce Department, reviews every frontier model before it is released, he said.
"Remember, and I think we're the only government on the planet to pull a model off the shelf when Mythos was suspended earlier this year in order to make it more cyber safe to be released." — Brad Gerstner
The president and the White House directed that decision, he said.
"And so there is a cop on the beat." — Brad Gerstner
"We are taking safety and these precautions seriously, but we're not doing it in a way that's slowing us down." — Brad Gerstner
