Chan and Wiener\u2019s campaigns quickly adjusted<\/a>. Wiener trained his canvassers to be fluent in the minutia of AI safety, while Chan took to social media<\/a>, posting her \u201clate-night thoughts on the future of AI.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n On Thursday night, Wiener defended the $500,000<\/a> that Public First Action gave to a PAC supporting him. The Anthropic-funded organization advocates for AI regulation and was founded in opposition to other AI-industry PACs, which spend against candidates who want regulation.\u00a0<\/p>\n If anything, Wiener said, that support is evidence that he will effectively regulate AI. \u201cThe people who are most focused on AI safety, they\u2019re supporting me because they know that I have done the work to regulate AI, and that I will do the work in Congress,\u201d Wiener said.<\/p>\n Chan also accused Wiener of hiding who had shaped the amendments to his AI law, calling the final version \u201cwatered-down.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Wiener tried to pass a more stringent AI-safety bill in 2024, but Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed that bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTo refer to SB 53 as \u2018watered down\u2019 is a joke,\u201d Wiener retorted. \u201cMultiple states have literally cut and pasted this law and then built on it. \u2026 Other states don\u2019t think it\u2019s watered down. All the tech companies that tried to undermine and sabotage SB 53 don\u2019t think it\u2019s watered down.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very easy when you\u2019ve never lifted a finger for AI safety regulation to armchair-quarterback it,\u201d Wiener added. \u201cThat\u2019s fine. That\u2019s politics. But I\u2019m proud of the work that we\u2019ve done.\u201d<\/p>\n AI also came up because of the chatbot<\/a> that Wiener\u2019s campaign released in August. It was intended to be a parody of Chan that highlighted her history of opposing housing and transit projects.\u00a0<\/p>\n But Chan accused it of sexism for \u201cputting words in my mouth,\u201d and racism because prompting it with \u201caccent\u201d made it say, \u201cmy San Francisco accent is so thick I can barely understand myself.\u201d<\/p>\n Amid criticism, Wiener took the bot down, and at Thursday\u2019s debate, he apologized to Chan. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was a terrible mistake, which is why we took it down, and why I apologize,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Chan and Wiener also responded to a question about ensuring that the United States stays competitive with China<\/a> in the AI race.\u00a0<\/p>\n Chan rejected the premise of the question. <\/p>\n \u201cWe should not allow the AI industries to pit our country, United States, with other countries in the name of competition,\u201d she said. \u201cIt should not be in the framework of competition, but the framework of protecting our future, protecting our humanity, and protecting our workforce.\u201d<\/p>\n Wiener called for cooperation between the United States and China. <\/p>\n \u201cWe do not need some mega arms race where we\u2019re just like, \u2018Who\u2019s going to be the first to potentially melt down the world?\u2019\u201d he said. <\/p>\n He compared the situation to the U.S. and Soviet Union reaching agreements on nuclear arms, even though \u201cthat was a much more contentious relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cChina is a rival, economically and otherwise, and that\u2019s okay, that is normal, but we have an obligation to work with China on AI safety, on climate, on so many different issues,\u201d Wiener added.\u00a0<\/p>\n Though much of the debate focused on AI, Lagos also made the candidates tighten their positions on military aid to Israel<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn the past, you\u2019ve said defensive military aid, such as funding for the Iron Domem should be packaged with humanitarian aid in Israel. Your campaign has said recently that you support a full arms embargo. Which is it?\u201d Lagos asked Chan.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause it has changed,\u201d Chan said, explaining that, to her, it\u2019s become clear that even when aid is conditional on a ceasefire or humanitarian aid, the Israeli government is \u201ctime and again, violating the rights and committing a genocide and pushing forward the apartheid state.\u201d<\/p>\n Wiener, for his part, was asked whether he would be open to restarting aid to Israel if a new government came into power, which he has previously said<\/a> should be considered.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s an election happening in about a month there. If Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s coalition loses, does your position change at all in terms of what aid you think America should be selling or giving to Israel?\u201d Lagos asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n This time, Wiener said no. \u201cThis government, and it\u2019s not just Netanyahu, is an absolute abomination, in my view, in terms of what it has inflicted on Gaza, in terms of Israel empowering settler violence and land grabs in the West Bank.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/kqed-debate-1.jpg\")
From left: State Sen. Scott Wiener and San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan debate at KQED in San Francisco on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. The two Democrats are running for California\u2019s 11th District, a seat Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi is leaving. The debate was co-hosted by KQED and the San Francisco Chronicle. Santiago Mejia\/S.F. Chronicle\/Pool.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/kqed-debate-copy-6.jpg\")
San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan during her debate with State Sen. Scott Wiener at KQED in San Francisco on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. The two Democrats are running for California\u2019s 11th District, a seat Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi is leaving. The debate was co-hosted by KQED and the San Francisco Chronicle. Santiago Mejia\/S.F. Chronicle\/Pool.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/kqed-debate-1-copy-2.jpg\")
State Sen. Scott Wiener during a debate with San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan at KQED in San Francisco on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. The two Democrats are running for California\u2019s 11th District, a seat Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi is leaving. The debate was co-hosted by KQED and the San Francisco Chronicle. Santiago Mejia\/S.F. Chronicle\/Pool.<\/p>\n