Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will hold a bipartisan briefing next week to discuss the "extraordinary dangers" posed by AI, Axios has learned. Why it matters: Rogue AI incidents and dire warnings from the very people building ever more powerful models are fueling fresh alarm in Washington.Sanders, the lawmaker behind legislation that would pause AI development, is bringing that debate directly to senators.Driving the news: Geoffrey Hinton, known as the "Godfather of AI," Future of Life Institute co-founder Max Tegmark, and Ajeya Cotra, one of the independent researchers who investigated the OpenAI-Hugging Face hacking incident, will attend the Senate briefing. The briefing comes after Jacob Coxon, a former Anthropic and OpenAI employee, quit Anthropic over concerns neither company is taking AI dangers seriously. Coxon said in a viral post on X that a pause on AI development could be a solution."As you know, the issue of AI has been getting enormous attention in recent weeks—for obvious reasons," Sanders wrote in a Dear Colleague letter to senators, pointing to Coxon's post. "Congress needs SERIOUS discussions about this issue," he wrote. "That is why I will be convening a private briefing with some of the leading experts in the world to discuss this recent incident and the extraordinary dangers that AI poses for humanity."Between the lines: Congress has held many roundtables, briefings and hearings on AI, and a myriad of bills have been introduced. Safety advocates hope the latest technological advances and warnings from inside AI companies could be what finally spurs congressional leaders to act.What's next: The briefing will take place Sept. 16 from 4-5 p.m. on the Hill, according to the letter seen by Axios.