At a moment when artificial intelligence is reshaping the boundaries of human capability, OpenAI has chosen to walk into the halls of power rather than wait to be summoned. CEO Sam Altman, carrying the unusual banner of an innovator urging restraint, is warning that the systems humanity is building may outpace its ability to govern them. The company's deliberate engagement with Congress reflects an old and recurring tension in technological history: whether those who create transformative tools can also be trusted to define the limits of their use.