This week, Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal and Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley said: No exemption from Section 230 of the AI Actintended to clarify that the Section 230 disclaimer should not apply to Generative AI.
Leader of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and Law introduced A new bipartisan bill was passed on June 14.
“AI companies should be held accountable for their business decisions when developing products without the legal shield of Section 230,” Senator Blumenthal said in a statement. “This law is the first step in our effort to create the rules for AI and establish a safe haven as we enter this new era. Accountability for AI platforms will target risks and protect the public.” It is a key principle of the regulatory framework that
This new bipartisan bill strengthens the argument that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act should not cover AI-generated works, helping protect consumers from harmful content generated by the latest advances in AI technology. We promise to get you the tools you need to do it. It also gives lawmakers who have campaigned for years to amend Section 230 an opportunity to push for it.
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 is often credited with enabling the rise of the Internet and the proliferation of social media. The law also primarily protects platforms from lawsuits over third-party content.
But many believe the law is too broad a protection for today’s web, and that social media companies and tech giants leave too much harmful content online. .
Legal experts and lawmakers have questioned whether AI-generated works qualify for legal immunity under Section 230. This has become a new and urgent problem thanks to the explosive growth of generative AI in the last few years.
Senators’ Section 230 AI Immunity Ban Bill amends Section 230 by “adding provisions to strip AI companies of immunity in civil actions or criminal prosecutions involving the use or provision of generative AI.” It is written in the text of the bill.
The bill would also allow companies to sue in federal or state courts for alleged damages caused by generative AI models.
“Generative AI cannot make the same mistakes Big Tech makes under Section 230,” Sen. Hawley said in a statement. “If these new technologies harm innocent people, companies must be held accountable. Victims deserve a day in court, and this bipartisan proposal does just that. I will make it a reality.”
In May, Blumenthal and Hawley, as leaders of the Judicial Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and Law, held hearings to oversee AI technology and appropriate safeguards.
During the hearing, the witnesses agreed We need congressional oversight to protect the American people. Samuel Altman, his CEO at OpenAI, who developed his famous ChatGPT AI tool, said he believes government regulatory intervention is essential to de-risking increasingly powerful models. “We will continue to do so.”
