As debate around AI's apocalyptic nature continues, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker called for federal regulation of artificial intelligence, contending that AI is dangerous "on the level of nuclear weapons."

Urging Congress to pass federal guardrails on the technology, Pritzker told ABC in an interview, “You can't do this state by state. This needs to be a national effort as well as an international endeavor, especially together with our allies, because AI is not going to go away."

He reportedly urged Congress to make federal regulations a top priority, calling the technology “dangerous on the level of nuclear weapons.”

Pritzker also touted legislation he signed in Illinois in July, requiring AI companies to conduct annual third-party audits of their safety plans and disclose safety incidents to the state.

“They are okay with just letting it, you know, run rampant and let the leaders of it self-govern and self-regulate, and I think that's a mistake because we clearly have seen that there are breakouts that they don't control, and they haven't had any real interest in it,” Pritzker told ABC News.

“We don't need to shut it down entirely. What we need to do is make sure it doesn't get out of control," he added.

But Pritzker said he doesn’t support Sen. Bernie Sanders’ proposal to ban superintelligence.

“I think that you're not going to be able to is the point,” Pritzker said. “That's not going to happen because it's not like AI doesn't exist in the world already," he was quoted as saying.

Pritzker's remarks came after a recent series of breaches by agentic AI systems developed by OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta and now Google has alarmed cybersecurity and AI experts alike.

On Sunday, reports claimed that Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence model inadvertently hacked into three protected company systems in May while researchers were testing its cybersecurity capabilities, adding to a recent string of breaches by agentic AI systems.

His statement came after Jacob Coxon, a 27-year-old AI researcher who worked at both Anthropic and OpenAI, resigned and warned on Wednesday that AI could precipitate human extinction by 2030.

From SpaceX and Tesla boss Elon Musk to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to Demis Hassabis, co-founder and chair of Google DeepMind and Chief Scientist of Alphabet, many backed Amodei's remarks calling for a slower pace of improvement in AI model capabilities.

However, a latest lawsuit in the US District Court for the Northern District of California claimed that tech giants Anthropic, OpenAI, SpaceXAI and Google made an “illegal” deal to slow the pace of their respective AI development, news agency Associated Press reported.

It reportedly argued that the leading AI companies violated antitrust laws when they agreed to coordinate slowdown efforts, and that doing so would reduce the value consumers get for paid AI subscription.

Trump said Saturday on social media that he is forming an AI task force and will appoint an "AI czar," but provided scant detail.

While Pritzker is running for reelection as governor, he is also supporting Democratic candidates around the country.

Pritzker said his party is promoting a message focused on mitigating rising costs by giving Americans more money, partially by raising the minimum wage.