Federal regulation of AI: What the likely framers and innovators are saying now

Last week brought the latest in an occasional series of conversations on AI between governmental leaders and Big Tech honchos. For months, the No. 1 topic on the table has been regulation. Businesses are counterintuitively clamoring for it, and the political parties are—for the moment, anyway—united over it.

Held behind closed doors, the Sept. 13 huddle really started the week before. On Sept. 8, Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) laid out a five-bullet framework the two are sure to follow in drafting their subcommittee’s anticipated AI bill.  

“License requirements, clear AI identification, accountability, transparency, strong protections for consumers and kids: Such common sense principles are a solid starting point,” Blumenthal said in introducing the framework.

“Our American families, workers and national security are on the line,” Hawley added. “We know what needs to be done; the only question is whether Congress has the willingness to see it through.”

Here’s a taste of what tech leaders and close observers have been saying about regulating AI in the days since the Sept. 13 meeting.   

1. ‘I agree that Congress should engage with AI to support innovation and safeguards. This is an emerging technology, there are important equities to balance here, and the government is ultimately responsible for that.’—Founder and head of Facebook and Meta Mark Zuckerberg

2. ‘Calls for a new licensing regime or a new regulator follow the approach seen in Europe, where a heavy regulatory touch has produced undesirable economic consequences. A better approach is to build on the success of light-touch innovation that has made the United States a world leader in the internet era.’—Technology policy researcher Jennifer Huddleston

3. ‘Regulate AI risk, not AI algorithms. Not all uses of AI carry the same level of risk. While some might seem harmless, others can have far-reaching consequences.’—IBM chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna

4. ‘It’s important for us to have a referee. I think there’s a strong consensus that there should be some AI regulation. … There is some chance above zero that AI will kill us all. I think it’s low, but there is some chance.’—Business magnate Elon Musk

5. ‘[The combined net worth of the Senate room on Sept. 13 was $550 billion, and it’s] hard to envision a room like that in any way meaningfully representing the interests of the broader public.’—AI Now Institute managing director Sarah Myers West