Abstract:
U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Monday called on Congress to take immediate action to regulate artificial intelligence. It's his most urgent call yet to address the rapidly evolving technology. There have been warnings that if left unchecked, artificial intelligence could completely wipe out humanity.
Jeffreys said at the weekly press conference: "The explosive growth of artificial intelligence and the various challenges it brings are by no means alarmist. No matter what Donald Trump's views on this issue, the risks are real. Congress must take immediate and decisive action, follow the plan advocated by some of the top domestic AI field figures, and appropriately slow down the pace of AI development to protect the health, safety and welfare of the American people."
Just days before Jeffries called for regulation, former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon warned that artificial intelligence could “kill us all.” This comment prompted the company’s CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and xAI CEO Elon Musk to jointly call for slowing down the pace of AI development. However, Trump responded by downplaying the relevant risks and insisting on supporting accelerated breakthroughs in AI technology.
Jeffreys urged House Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday to ask Congress to remain in session "until decisive measures are taken to protect the safety and well-being of the American people. Experts within the artificial intelligence industry are currently growing concerns about this."
Johnson has canceled the final two weeks before the midterm elections, meaning the House of Representatives is scheduled to leave Capitol Hill on Thursday and not return until November 9. The speaker did not say that he would reconsider this arrangement. He has always been unclear about whether the House of Representatives will consider the AI security bill before the election, and he is not even sure whether the relevant agenda will be arranged.
Jeffreys also said that the Democratic Party’s exclusive AI committee established under his leadership in this Congress will soon launch policy recommendations. He revealed plans to meet with the committee's three co-chairs this week. At the same time, he accused Johnson of refusing to reestablish a bipartisan joint AI task force, which could have allowed lawmakers from both parties to collaborate on this issue.
“We want to ensure that American entrepreneurs and companies can continue to lead in this space,” Jeffries said of the work being pursued by the Democratic-led committee. “But on the other hand, we must also ensure that the American people can actually enjoy the benefits of artificial intelligence without suffering its real, serious and dangerous negative impacts.”
While Jeffries has positioned Democrats as leaders on artificial intelligence policy in the current and next Congress, he has rejected suggestions from some colleagues to establish a dedicated artificial intelligence commission if Democrats win a majority in November.
"We are focused on substance, not procedure," he said, adding that any special committee discussions would take place after Election Day.
Jeffreys does support the Electricity Payer Protection Act, a bipartisan bill aimed at protecting Americans from the energy costs of the data center boom, which is scheduled for a vote on Tuesday.
“This is a step forward,” he said, “but there is still more work to be done.”
Comments