Gallego Urges Senate Leadership to Establish Bipartisan Senate Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence

WASHINGTON – Today, Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, urging them to support the establishment of a bipartisan Senate Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence beginning at the start of the next Congress. This follows recent reporting from the Wall Street Journal that former Anthropic researcher, Jacob Coxon, quit his role and warned of an industrywide rush to build AI systems that can improve themselves and, in turn, destroy humanity. In response to his departure, Evan Hubinger — a top scientist at Anthropic — wrote that there is a more than ten-percent chance AI destroys humanity in the next decade, with no plan in place at the company to tackle the problem. “AI is likely to be one of the most transformative technologies in human history. It has already accelerated drug discovery, expanded access to expert-level knowledge across numerous different fields, and improved productivity across industries, with one leading estimate suggesting the technology could raise global GDP by as much as 7 percent or nearly $7 trillion over a ten-year period,” Senator Gallego wrote. “But the same technology also presents serious and rapidly evolving challenges to our workforce, national security, elections, privacy, critical infrastructure, children, and the safety of the public. Senator Gallego continued: “Congress does not need to resolve every disagreement among experts about timelines or probabilities to recognize that both the upside and the downside of this technology warrant an urgent and comprehensive response.” Senator Gallego detailed how the committee should be explicitly bipartisan in membership and leadership, have subpoena power, and be charged with producing actionable legislative recommendations. He also insisted that it must hold hearings in response to national security concerns; respond to AI’s effect on American workers and the economy; asses the risks to children, consumers, privacy, civil rights, elections, and critical infrastructure; examine the energy and infrastructure demands of AI; and study how the United States can establish safeguards while also remaining the leaders in AI’s development. “Artificial intelligence is moving quickly. Congress must move with it,” concluded Senator Gallego. Click to read the full text of the letter HERE .