Senate Committees Take Lead After Schumer Wraps up AI Forums

Senate committees will take a proactive stance on AI legislation in 2024 now that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has wrapped up his AI forums, Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told us last week.

That was the intent “from day one,” said Rounds, one of four members of the bipartisan AI working group that hosted the forums (see 2311030053). The working group will issue recommendations for committee chairs and ranking members, who can then vet ideas through their committees. Leaders of Senate committees will dive into “technical" issues including copyright, intellectual property and patents, he said.

The working group "continues to review and discuss the good ideas presented this Congress and during the AI Insight Forums," the office of Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., said Monday. "There should be additional updates in the weeks ahead."

The offices of Schumer and Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., the fourth group member, didn’t comment. Schumer hosted nine AI Insight Forums between June and December, covering everything from national security and intellectual property to election security, civil rights and privacy. Speakers ranged from Big Tech executives and high-ranking government officials to academics and industry stakeholders.

The Senate Commerce Committee expects to advance legislation, Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told us. She noted her 2017 legislation with Young, which sought creation of a federal AI advisory committee. The Future of AI Act helped spur President Joe Biden’s AI executive order (see 2310300056), she said. That EO included directives for the Commerce Department, the FCC, the FTC and other federal agencies on establishing “rigorous” standards for how and when companies can deploy AI.

The next step for the committee is implementing many of the EO’s provisions this year, specifically those involving the Commerce Department and the National Institute of Technology and Standards, said Cantwell. In partnership with the private sector, those agencies will help determine the proper level of oversight, she said: “I do think we can get [new legislation] out of the committee. People are in agreement that the U.S. must maintain its superiority on AI. What does that look like to achieve that?”

It’s unclear how much value senators gained from attending Schumer's AI forums, said Electronic Privacy Information Center Senior Counsel Ben Winters, who is scheduled to speak Thursday at the FTC’s virtual summit on AI. Some senators might have gained insight from the wide variety of speakers, said Winters. The problem with the forums is that Schumer set the legislative agenda, so when he said the upper chamber wasn’t ready to move a bill, nothing happened, said Winters: “It was a really important and frustrating move by Schumer to sort of stake out this whole year-plus where nothing really can happen.” Regardless, Winters said, he’s optimistic about the chances for legislation in 2024. Congress should focus on election disinformation and generative AI’s role in explicit content and deep fakes, he said.

The Senate Consumer Protection Subcommittee is interested in election security, Chairman John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., confirmed for us. Coming into an election year, the question is how do you strengthen AI requirements so “people can tell what’s real and what’s fake?” People have always “ripped off ideas” and been “deceptive” in publishing, but now it’s easier and more powerful than ever because of social media, he said.

The most important thing now is “watermark”[ing] AI-generated content, said Sen. Angus King, I-Vt., a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Watermarking identifies manipulated media for online users. Schumer, Rounds and Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., have said election security is one of the first AI issues Congress should address (see 2309140050).