A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has released a sweeping plan on how Congress should fund and regulate artificial intelligence, marking the start of a major government effort to address the rapidly evolving technology.
The report released Wednesday calls for spending $32 billion annually to fund artificial intelligence research outside the military. Senators said they also support legislation to prevent artificial intelligence from interfering with elections in the form of manipulating records of what people say or do, also known as deepfakes.
“We’re not going to wait for legislation that addresses artificial intelligence and every aspect of society,” Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters on Tuesday. “In other words, if some areas are ready earlier than others, then they’re should move forward.”
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The New York Times and Axios earlier noted that the proposed legislation marks one of the biggest steps the U.S. government has taken to address the challenges posed by the boom in artificial intelligence technology. Thanks to technologies like ChatGPT, startups including OpenAI have become multi-billion dollar businesses. . Since then, artificial intelligence has been used to reshape the technology industry, including giants such as Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft, which declared 2024 as the “Year of the Artificial Intelligence PC.”
(For CNET’s hands-on reviews of generative AI products like Gemini, Claude, ChatGPT, and Microsoft Copilot, as well as AI news, tips, and explanations, see our new AI Atlas resources page.)
Google this week announced a major artificial intelligence overhaul of its products, including a revamp of its namesake search experience. Next month, Apple is expected to announce similar artificial intelligence capabilities for its iPhones, iPads and Mac computers.
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While Congress’s proposals mark a big step forward, they are not the only effort by the U.S. government to address the potential impacts of artificial intelligence. Last year, President Joe Biden announced an executive order directing federal agencies to address artificial intelligence in a number of different ways. The government has also been expanding recruitment efforts in the technology industry, with a focus on artificial intelligence.
The group of senators said their proposal would not prevent congressional committees or other agencies from developing their own plans for artificial intelligence, including to prevent potential discrimination.
