In the final primary debate between incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and challenger U.S. Representative Seth Moulton (D-MA), both candidates were asked if they personally use AI platforms like Claude or ChatGPT in their work.
Markey, 80, replied first: “I use whatever is inside my iPhone or iPad, whatever comes up. And I don’t know what company my iPad might be using.” He added, “But if it does in fact provide me with the information which I might ask, I’m asking the device to give to me, then of course I’m using it.”
Moulton, 47, replied with a laugh: “Yes, I use AI. We’re very careful about how to use it, to use it honestly, to use it effectively. But these are tools that can help, but they’re also tools that need protections.”
career ending answer from Markey imo https://t.co/uVXeQLx3hu
— Ankit Gupta (@agupta) August 21, 2026
Moulton added, “And with all due respect, Senator, if you don’t even know what you’re using on your phone or your iPad, like this is why we need a new generation of leaders to regulate these technologies, to make sure they are safe, they are safe for families.”
Harvard-educated computer scientist Ankit Gupta, general partner at the Silicon Valley accelerator Y Combinator and co-founder of Reverie Labs (which uses AI tools to accelerate drug discovery), responded to the exchange: “career ending answer from Markey imo.”
Fellow Harvard graduate Mandy Zhang, who serves as a Youth Advisor for Markey’s campaign, replied to Gupta: “yeahhh you don’t know Moulton then lmaoo.”
Gupta replied to Zhang: “I guess I mean what it should be, not necessarily what it will be” with a person shrugging emoji.
I guess I mean what it should be, not necessarily what it will be
— Ankit Gupta (@agupta) August 21, 2026
MIT Sloan School of Management professor John Horton — co-founder of Expected Parrot, a 2025 “batch company” of Y Combinator that “helps companies simulate their customers with AI agents” — also criticized Markey. Horton replied to Gupta: “he also seems to think Waymos are just RC cars operated by gamers in the Philippines.”
Tommy Vietor, former spokesman for President Obama and the National Security Council, also replied: “I like Senator Markey but this is a terrible answer and a pretty stark example of the problem with our gerontocracy. We need the Senate to understand and then regulate new technologies.”
[NOTE: The Democratic primary in Massachusetts is on Tuesday, September 1.]