Congress needs to establish a national commission to license and audit AI companies, Senate Privacy Subcommittee Chairman Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Tuesday.
Section 230
The AI working group led by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., won’t rush to introduce legislation, members of the group told us after their second Senate AI briefing (see 2307110049).
The Senate Commerce Committee plans to vote Wednesday on three FCC nominees and commission inspector general candidate Fara Damelin, as expected (see 2306270067), the committee said Thursday. Incumbent Democratic Commissioner Geoffrey Starks and new pick Anna Gomez got copious questions from Senate Commerce ranking member Ted Cruz of Texas and other panel Republicans, but none of them indicated the same level of negativity that ex-nominee Gigi Sohn faced during her often-fractious year-plus confirmation process. Committee Democrats, meanwhile, probed Republican Commissioner Brendan Carr on controversial statements he made since becoming a commissioner during the Trump administration.
Congress hopes to advance comprehensive legislation to regulate AI in a matter of months, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told a Center for Strategic & International Studies event Wednesday.
Generative-AI content shouldn’t be protected by Communications Decency Act Section 230, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., told a New America event Tuesday.
Lawmakers must hold companies liable when their artificial intelligence systems cause harm and should consider major updates to Section 230, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told NTIA in comments released last week.
Legislation introduced Wednesday for regulating artificial intelligence shows some lawmakers are “more keen” to regulate than to “understand” the technology, NetChoice said in a statement Thursday. Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., introduced the No Section 230 Immunity for AI Act Wednesday, as expected (see 2306090046). The legislation clarifies that Communications Decency Act Section 230 doesn’t apply to claims based on generative AI activity, “ensuring consumers have the tools they need to protect themselves from harmful content produced by the latest advancements in AI technology,” Hawley’s office said. Said NetChoice Vice President Carl Szabo: “The bill would jeopardize important tools like autocorrect, content recommendations and search engines. Lawmakers shouldn’t rush to release regulations before seriously engaging with the history and functionality of AI tools, many of which have been publicly available for years."
The Senate Judiciary Committee passed legislation for a second time Thursday that would allow news outlets to negotiate with the tech industry for compensation when platforms host news content (see 2306140042). Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told us a potential floor vote is a “long way” off, and ranking member Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said during the hearing he expects the bill will ultimately “go nowhere.”
Meta exposed its artificial intelligence technology to risks of spam, fraud, malware and privacy abuse by allowing unrestrained release of its Large Language Model Meta AI (LLaMA) program, wrote Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Tuesday.
Congress should revoke Section 230 if it continues to fail in passing legislation to hold Big Tech accountable for online harms, including child exploitation and illegal drug sales, said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and several other members Thursday.