Congress must pass nationwide AI policy framework
On Sunday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed AI legislation (SB 1047) that would require the largest AI developers to implement safeguards reducing the chance their models could cause or enable critical harms. During its consideration, the legislation garnered support from celebrities and some in the tech industry for instituting a first-in-the-nation AI regulatory framework.
“The intense debate around SB 1047 is evidence that people really want our lawmakers to get this right because there’s so much at stake,” said ARI President Brad Carson. “This impacts our innovation economy, it impacts our national security, and it impacts all fifty states, not just California. While Governor Newsom vetoed this bill, Congress has an opportunity to pass AI legislation that meets the needs of the entire country. The debate over AI legislation is just getting started.”
Across Congress, a number of proposals to mitigate AI risks have made progress this year, including efforts to fully fund NIST’s AI Safety Institute, legislation that would create guidelines for third-party audits of AI models, and updates to export controls that would prevent AI from being misused by malicious actors – all of which have garnered bipartisan support.
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Americans for Responsible Innovation (ARI) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to policy advocacy in the public interest, focused on emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). Learn more at responsibleinnovation.org.