WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are joining forces to try to reign in the potential dangers of artificial intelligence technology.
Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley said that should start by holding companies legally responsible for real-world harms.
“This is all about taking power away from the big corporations,” said Hawley.
He also said he wants to make sure artificial intelligence companies can be held accountable in court.
“It’s about if someone uses a deep fake of your kid you can go sue him,” explained Hawley.
Along with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-NY, Hawley is pushing legislation to explicitly deny AI companies the legal protections given to big tech companies such as Google, Twitter, and Meta.
“You can’t take them into court, you can’t sue. That is wrong,” said Hawley.
At a hearing last month, Illinois Democratic senator Dick Durbin agreed the legal shield, known as Section 230, goes too far.
“I’m not sure I’m happy with the outcomes as I look at online platforms and the harms they’ve created,” said Durbin.
Sam Altman, whose company created ChatGPT, said Congress must take a different approach with AI.
“I think there needs to be responsibility by the companies,” said Altman. “We need to work to together to find a totally new approach.”
But not everyone is so sure. NetChoice, which lobbies for big tech, warns opening AI companies up to lawsuits could backfire and slow innovation.
“We already have laws and court decisions on the applicability of Section 230 to AI and we don’t need new laws,” said NetChoice in a statement.
But with AI’s rapid growth, Hawley is pushing congress to work quickly and says hearings to discuss next steps will happen very soon.
