On Wednesday, the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee marked up and passed two AI bills, the AI Incident Reporting and Security Enhancement Act (H.R. 9720) and the Department of Energy AI Act (H.R. 9671). The Senate companion to H.R. 9720 is also slated for a Senate markup in the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources tomorrow. Earlier this month, the House Science Committee reported out a slate of another nine AI bills. This marks the last week of legislative action before Congress adjourns until after the election.
“Both of these bills put existing government infrastructure and resources to work promoting safety and innovation in the AI ecosystem. It’s an important first step as lawmakers update government for the AI moment, and there’s no reason policymakers can’t get it done this year,” said ARI Senior VP of Government Affairs Doug Calidas. “With bipartisan support in the House today and the same expected in the Senate tomorrow, we’re pushing Congress to make more progress before the end of the year.”
The DOE AI Act uses DOE’s existing next-generation computing platforms and data to support innovation in the sector while also instructing DOE to develop a strategic plan for the use of AI in achieving its mission. The AI Incident Reporting and Security Enhancement Act directs NIST to update its national vulnerability database to reflect AI vulnerabilities and to study the need for voluntary reporting of AI security and safety incidents.
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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 www.ari.us.