Some of Silicon Valley's biggest AI boosters are warning that artificial intelligence could become a defining issue in the 2028 presidential election as voters grow increasingly uneasy about the massive infrastructure buildout needed to power the technology.
Box CEO Aaron Levie told the Andreessen Horowitz podcast that the next presidential contest could effectively become an "AI election," forcing candidates to confront growing public anxiety surrounding the technology.
"The next election will 100% be a referendum on AI," Levie said. "So it has to happen that 2028 is the AI election."
.@levie predicts on the @a16z podcast that the 2028 election will be a referendum on AI. pic.twitter.com/pXPPsYbYDl
— Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) September 30, 2026
Levie argued that supporters face a messaging problem because making the case for rapid AI development is complicated, while opposition can be communicated through simple warnings about its potential dangers.
Steven Sinofsky, a board partner at a16z and former Microsoft executive, argued that AI skeptics have already seized control of the language surrounding the debate.
"We own none of the vocabulary," Sinofsky said. "The whole debate is pause. It's swarms. It's rogue. Every word has b
