Plus: The FBI is investigating Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s affair.

This is today's edition of The Download , our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology.

Nancy Pelosi’s replacement is ready to regulate AI

—Grace Huckins

As a California state senator, Scott Wiener authored legislation aimed at curbing the risks of advanced AI. Now, after winning a tight congressional race for Nancy Pelosi’s open San Francisco seat, he could play a key role in setting federal AI policy.

I spoke with Wiener only a few hours after he had been declared the victor. But he was already thinking about AI risk: during our 20-minute conversation, he used the phrase “recursive self-improvement” half a dozen times.

“We need to slow this down,” he told me. “Because it’s moving very quickly, and we could sleepwalk into a disaster.” Still, he describes himself as only “cautiously optimistic” about Congress’s ability to rein in AI.…