Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), leader of the chamber’s bipartisan working group on AI, has avoided setting a timeline for expected AI legislation. The leader initially promised new AI rules would take “months,” not “years” in June when the AI working group outlined its approach to crafting regulations.
But when Congress left at the end of last year, lawmakers hadn’t moved on any proposals put forward on AI rules.
The group also includes Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.).
Schumer spokeswoman Allison Biasotti said in an email that “conversations continued over break between the AI gang staff and senators directly.”
“The success of the AI Insight Forums led to many recommendations and we aim to produce a framework— working in tandem with the respective senate committees — in the near future,” Biasotti added.
Dewey Murdick, executive director at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, said “if there’s no action before the end of this Congress, I think there’s going to be a perception that they failed.”
“It’s going be a super tough year to do anything, but I think the pressure is on pretty high to do something,” he added.
As Congress continues to mull an AI framework, the tech industry is steaming ahead with AI advancements. Analysts at Wedbush said in a report earlier this month that 2024 will be the “year of AI,” as expanding use cases for AI “are exploding globally.”
The potential impacts of a guardrail-free AI future are becoming more apparent as the technology expands, and are highlighted in part by court cases that challenge whether AI companies are stealing work from creators to build their large language models.
Darrell West, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Center for Technology Innovation, said Congress is “way behind on AI regulation.”
“AI is being deployed in virtually every sector. It’s making decisions that affect people. There already are a number of problems that are emerging but there’s been virtually no Congressional legislation,” West said.
Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.
