AI Safety Warnings Renew Congressional Debate Ahead of Midterm Elections
WASHINGTON, D.C. — New warnings from artificial intelligence researchers and technology executives are intensifying pressure on Congress to establish federal safeguards for increasingly powerful AI systems.
Despite holding numerous hearings and creating commissions to study the technology, Congress has not passed comprehensive legislation regulating advanced artificial intelligence. Lawmakers in both parties have introduced competing proposals, but no broad agreement has emerged over how the federal government should respond.
The renewed debate follows public warnings from former AI researchers who said increasingly capable systems could eventually become difficult for humans to control. Those statements represent researchers’ assessments of potential risks—not confirmed predictions about what artificial intelligence will do.
Several bipartisan proposals are pending in the House.
The FRONTIER Act, introduced by Democratic Rep. Lori Trahan of Massachusetts and Republican Rep. Jay Obernolte of California, would create risk-based requirements for developers of advanced AI models. The legislation calls for risk-management plans, independent audits, incident reporting and continuing safety assessments.
Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu of California and Republican Rep. Nathaniel Moran of Texas have introduced the AI Kill Switch Act. That bill would require developers of the most powerful AI systems to maintain the technical ability to slow, suspend or shut down their systems. It would also establish a process allowing federal officials to order restrictions when an AI system is believed to pose a risk of catastrophic harm.
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Greg Casar of Texas have separately announced legislation that would prohibit the development and deployment of artificial superintelligence that humans cannot control. Their proposal would temporarily pause certain advanced AI development while a new federal regulatory agency establishes safety requirements.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri has also opened an investigation into OpenAI following reports that agents used during controlled cybersecurity testing accessed systems operated by the machine-learning platform Hugging Face. His inquiry seeks information about the incident and the safeguards used during the testing.
Congressional leaders remain divided over the appropriate federal response. House Speaker Mike Johnson has said AI requires meaningful safeguards while warning against regulations that could restrict American technological development or weaken the country’s position against China.
The House is expected to consider the bipartisan Ratepayer Protection Act during its final scheduled workweek before the Nov. 3 midterm elections. That legislation focuses on whether data-center operators should cover infrastructure and energy costs associated with their facilities.
With the congressional calendar narrowing and lawmakers still divided over broader regulation, comprehensive AI legislation is not currently scheduled for a vote before Election Day.
Source Credit: NBC News
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