By Jody Godoy
– Members of Congress from both major U.S. political parties joined to propose new legislation this week related to artificial intelligence, as they aimed to tackle safety concerns without blocking innovation.
Some Republicans and Democrats are moving to regulate AI amid concerns about the technology’s effect on children, workers and cybersecurity.
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas who leads the Senate commerce committee, on Tuesday introduced a bill with Senator Brian Schatz, a Democrat from Hawaii, that would require AI chatbot companies to offer family accounts where parents could view their children’s chat logs and set time limits.
“With the right safeguards, AI systems can benefit a child’s education without putting their well-being at risk,” Cruz said in a statement.
OpenAI faces several lawsuits claiming the company violated product liability laws, including parents of a teen who died by suicide after ChatGPT allegedly coached him on methods of self-harm. The bill received support from tech accountability and child safety groups.
A different bill that would require chatbot companies to make certain disclosures when they know the user is a child passed through a committee in the U.S. House of Representatives in March.
On Monday, U.S. Representatives Ted Lieu, a Democrat, and Jay Obernolte, a Republican, introduced a broader proposal supporting AI research, standard setting and education. It would also create a tax break for companies that pay for employee cybersecurity training.
The bill was based on recommendations from a bipartisan House task force on AI, but did not include proposals on more divisive issues such as how AI is used to make housing and employment decisions.
(Reporting by Jody Godoy in New York; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
