Bipartisan Policy Center to launch Google-backed ‘AI 101’ for Congress 

The Bipartisan Policy Center is launching an artificial intelligence (AI) curriculum and resources to educate Congressional staff about the latest developments in the technology with financial backing from Google.

The AI 101 initiative will include a website that will be updated with new research and polls about AI, as well as a workshop program for House and Senate staff to attend to learn about the developments, according to a copy of the announcement exclusively shared with The Hill.  

The initiative aims to reach staff members who aren’t necessarily working directly on AI legislation to give them a base of knowledge about AI as considerations about how to approach AI regulation heats up, said Tom Romanoff, director of the Technology Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center.  

The curriculum was created with guidance from academic institutions, including Carnegie Mellon University.  

Google, one of several tech giants investing heavily in AI developments, is the lead financial sponsor. Romanoff said Google did not play a role in crafting the curriculum, and BPC maintains “fierce independence” from funders in terms of editorial oversight.  

Kent Walker, president of global affairs at Google and a member of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s president’s council, said the company is “pleased to support” the AI training.

“AI applications run the gamut from the everyday to the extraordinary, letting us break new ground in everything from science to cyber defense. But to keep the momentum going and make sure that AI’s benefits are shared widely, we all need to make it easier to learn about and use AI tools. Strong AI skilling programs like this are an important first step in the right direction,” Walker said in a statement.

The workshops will be set up into four pillars.  

The first pillar, focused on AI fundamentals, will take place this spring. Feedback and questions from the first session will guide the focus of the sessions that follow.  

Romanoff said he hopes to expand the program, either later this year or next year, to pilot some workshops at the state level.  

“We need to be inclusive of where we see the governance question happening,” he said.  

The House and Senate have been weighing proposals to regulate AI, but neither chamber has moved forward with plans to add rules in place as tech companies race ahead with new AI features.  

In the Senate, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) assembled a bipartisan working group to lead on AI and held a series of closed-door AI insight forums to discuss risks with stakeholders and Senators last year.  

In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) launched a bipartisan task force centered on AI in February.