OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said he would work alongside the government and the rest of the industry to move forward with a path that maximizes the benefits of the tech and minimizes the wide-ranging risks.
“My worst fears are that we — the field, the technology, the industry — cause significant harm to the world. I think that can happen in a lot of different ways,” Altman said.
“I think if this technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong, and we want to be vocal about that. We want to work with the government to prevent that from happening,” he added.
Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing, the first in a series of expected AI hearings, showcased a degree of bipartisan unity as lawmakers begin mulling regulation.
Republicans and Democrats asked largely similar questions about the risks of AI, ranging from intellectual property concerns to the impact on jobs.
Senators on the panel largely focused their questions at the AI oversight hearing on the risks from the technology across the board — especially to jobs — rather than grilling Altman specifically on what OpenAI is doing.
Altman said that like with most technological revolutions, he expects a “significant impact” on jobs, but the impact is hard to predict at this moment.
On enforcement, senators weighed the potential of creating a new regulatory agency tasked with AI oversight as well as creating a federal right of action that would let individuals sue companies over potential harm by AI technology.
Despite no clear path for regulation emerging, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), chair of the subcommittee holding the panel, said a proposal to add guardrails for AI could happen this session. He noted Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) framework to add guardrails, as well as the White House release of an AI Bill of Rights framework as indications of movement to add regulation.
“There [are] certainly a lot of legs for a bill, and a lot of momentum, and there’s a clear need. People are excited, but also anxious, with good reason,” he said.
Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.
