Trahan, Beyer Lead Bipartisan Push for House Leaders to Act Immediately on Artificial Intelligence

Today, Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D-MA-03) , a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA-07) , a member of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, led a bipartisan group of 10 congressional leaders on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in pressing House leadership to take immediate, urgent action to address risks posed by this rapidly advancing technology. The push came in the wake of the OpenAI agent cyberattacks on Hugging Face and subsequent warnings from leaders and researchers at prominent AI companies about the societal and existential risks posed by unrestrained advances in the technology. In addition to Trahan and Beyer, the letter was signed by Representatives Jay Obernolte (R-CA-33), Ted Lieu (D-CA-36), Scott Franklin (R-FL-18), Sara Jacobs (D-CA-53), Gabe Amo (D-RI-01), Valerie Foushee (D-NC-04), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01), and Veronica Escobar (D-TX-16). “We call for your joint leadership on an urgent Congressional response to recent incidents involving advanced artificial intelligence (AI) models that have profound implications for economic and national security. Congress has a singular opportunity to respond swiftly and effectively to these warning shots before true catastrophes occur,” the lawmakers wrote. “Congress must urgently advance legislation to mitigate the risk of more serious incidents, especially those that could threaten critical infrastructure, our financial system, and other institutions that every American depends on.” “The House of Representatives could and should immediately take up legislation that would strengthen AI oversight, security, and transparency. There currently exist dozens of bipartisan bills that committees of jurisdiction have reported. Members of both parties have also worked in recent months to fast-track bipartisan legislation that is ready to be considered by committees of jurisdiction. We believe these bills should be carefully and urgently advanced through the legislative process,” the lawmakers continued . A copy of the letter sent today can be accessed HERE . In July, Trahan and Obernolte introduced the FRONTIER Act , bipartisan legislation that would set the first federal safety rules for the most powerful AI systems, requiring the companies that build them to be transparent about the risks, submit to independent safety reviews, and report dangerous incidents to the government. The proposal has been endorsed by a broad coalition of independent AI safety organizations , industry stakeholders, and others. ###