WASHINGTON — OpenAI’s chief global affairs officer, Chris Lehane, is scheduled to meet with a bipartisan group of House and Senate lawmakers on Monday as Congress confronts growing concerns about the risks of rapidly advancing artificial intelligence. The meetings are expected to include members of congressional leadership, according to an OpenAI spokesperson. Lehane has become one of the company’s leading voices on public policy and has advocated for AI safety legislation at both the state and federal levels. His visit follows a weekend of unusually stark warnings from the technology industry. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for the industry to slow the pace of AI development after former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon warned that unchecked advances could pose an existential threat to humanity. The remarks have intensified debate over whether companies can be trusted to police themselves or whether governments must impose binding safety standards. Lehane has separately worked to advance state-level AI laws that the industry considers workable, including proposals in California, Illinois and New York. In a blog post last week, he argued that AI’s capabilities had entered a new phase requiring fresh policy decisions. Congress has yet to enact comprehensive federal AI safety legislation. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said Monday that Congress should take a “light touch” approach that protects against the most serious threats without undermining technological competition with China. Thune and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, are negotiating a revised bipartisan AI safety bill, though key provisions remain unresolved. Sen. Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat involved in the negotiations, said voluntary promises from AI companies are insufficient. He called for a specific federal framework with clear standards for outside evaluators and the companies developing advanced systems. “Those are not mutually exclusive,” Kim said of regulating AI while competing with China. “We can find bipartisan support to show that there is a real and better way that we can do this.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat, urged Congress to act immediately and called on Speaker Mike Johnson to keep the House in session until lawmakers address AI safety. The House is currently scheduled to leave Washington later this week and return after the November midterm elections, limiting the time available for negotiations. Johnson has remained cautious about federal regulation, saying that companies should bear primary responsibility for developing safe products while leaving open the possibility of a congressional role. He also said a White House meeting with major AI executives could take place later this week or early next week. The policy debate extends beyond hypothetical future risks. Lawmakers are also preparing to vote on legislation aimed at preventing households and businesses from absorbing rising electricity costs associated with the rapid construction of AI data centers. The proposal reflects growing concern that the infrastructure supporting the industry could shift financial and environmental burdens onto local communities and utility customers. With the election-season recess approaching, Lehane’s Capitol Hill meetings come at a moment when lawmakers across both parties are under pressure to respond to AI’s expanding economic and social effects. Whether that pressure produces enforceable safeguards or another round of voluntary commitments remains unresolved.