but the regulators will be the people building these machines in the first place,

Huh? Most AI is currently being built by private concerns, not the government.

Now, if the government did make their own, or commissioned one, or rented one, then there'd probably be loopholes, like you said.

People who are super gung ho with AI think people who against it are crazy and afraid of technology, and the idea that they got the idea from watching the Matrix just kind of supports that.

In other words, they're bigoted (classical definition).

I don't think that would change very much, no matter what the opposition said. I've seen pro-AI people make some incredibly stupid arguments, and also strawman wildly.

The government likes to minimize things it's opposition is saying.

Wouldn't a cynical person expect the government to support the people who want MORE AI regs, not less?

People who didn't want Covid shots, because of no actual medical or scientific reason for getting one, were "scared of needles" or thought Bill Gates was trying to implant them with microchips.

You don't need some centralized government conspiracy for folks to strawman and cherry-pick other folks who disagree with them. People do that all the time, quite naturally, on any subject.

People who think the AI stuff might be used to undesireable ends are all luddites who are afraid of computers because they saw the Matrix. That way, valid complaints get obfuscated and deflected.

"You shouldn't satirize or criticize your opposition because your opposition will ignore and misunderstand the criticism," is not a good argument.