Negotiations between Mr. Young and Mr. Schumer began, but they didn’t end there. Rather, they listened to input from other congressional committees and incorporated it into the final package.
“This was the most utilized look at the committee process since I took office, and I think it’s an opportunity to be even more inclusive,” Young said. “Senator Schumer and I started with the drafting of the bill, but then we took input extensively from the various committees in our jurisdiction.
While many senators will introduce their own AI measures, Young said the bipartisan effort is aimed at aligning lawmakers.
“So some of us may have bills, but this is more of a committee because the real emphasis here is on gathering ideas from others. I think it will be a meeting-focused thing,” says Young.
Schumer’s Democratic partner in the AI negotiations is New Mexico Democrat Heinrich, who said the closed-door Senate meeting was meant to strengthen a longstanding Senate committee.
“I think we’re at the point where we’re encouraging everyone through the normal process,” says Heinrich. “Different commissions lead to vastly different jurisdictions.”
And there are many committees and many AI-related issues to work on. For example, the Judiciary Committee will need to sort out copyright issues, and the Military Committee will deal with issues of war, peace, and nuclear Armageddon (a concern raised by Senator Ed Markey of the Massachusetts Democratic Party). And school boards will deal with the potential impact of AI on public education.
Legislators and their staff, like copyright law in the age of AI, will also need to scrutinize today’s laws to determine which ones work and which need a reboot. “Some existing laws are sufficient and others are not,” says Heinrich.
count the critics
So far, the AI debate remains largely a partisan battle. Last week, a bipartisan bicameral group announced a new plan to set up a National AI Commission of 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans to deal with AI in a more sober way than expected from Congress. announced a proposal. Still, pro-industry critics are beginning to voice concerns, viewing the regulation as a rush.
Senator Ted Cruz said, “Leaving the fine-grained development of AI to the federal government is a strategy to ensure that China beats us on all fronts in AI development, but it is a catastrophic move. It will happen,” he says.
Cruz is the Republican leader on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, which oversees all aspects of the economy. A young Texas senator fears Congress is going too far in the name of digital protectionism to stifle innovation.
“I think it’s reckless. Few lawmakers understand what AI is, let alone how to regulate it. It could be significantly better, and the last thing we want to do is move innovation to the Ministry of Motor Vehicles,” Cruz said.
Like his 99 colleagues, Mr. Cruz will eventually have a voice. Although his bipartisan AI working group is not focused on creating a large, comprehensive AI bill, in 2022 he will follow CHIPS and the Science Act, and such a bill will be the final result. Members are aware of the possibilities.
If it does, it will enact legislation unlike anything the Senate has ever seen, in part because AI appears to be all-encompassing.
“It will be big. says. “Hopefully we can have the same awareness of many of these things and package it.”
