Now that the election is over, lawmakers are turning their attention to the annual national defense authorization bill. This is a must-pass bill that attracts all kinds of policy riders.
A key priority of the National Defense Authorization Act from the technology industry’s perspective is enacting legislation that formally authorizes the AI Safety Institute within the Department of Commerce. Several other bills would do that, but the Future of AI Innovation Act in the Senate is the primary bill.
Although little of the AISI effort has a regulatory focus, research on how to measure the safety and effectiveness of AI systems will be key to future policy in this area.
Accept AISI: Nothing is guaranteed to join the NDAA. AISI authorization has some similarities with flexible policies. It’s bipartisan, an industry priority and has strong backers, including Senate Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has also said he wants to start securing American leadership in AI as part of the NDAA. Additionally, Schumer has a reason to push the bill this year. President-elect Donald Trump is likely to roll back the Biden administration’s AI approach, including AISI, which already exists at the direction of the White House.
Not so fast: The Republican Party’s landslide victory gives Republican leaders confidence that they can push back against things they don’t like and then put their stamp on issues later. And House Republican leaders are famously unwilling to tackle AI or undermine Trump at this point. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the incoming chairman of the Commerce Committee, is also an opponent of AISI.
China tournament: Mr. Cantwell’s AISI bill passed the committee as part of the package. Other parts of this bundle of bills and a companion bill in the House could tempt leadership, especially since the bill aims to push back on China. This is the rationale behind much of what will happen with AI in the next Congress.
The Cantwell Committee introduced a bipartisan bill that would direct the National Science Foundation to award more grants and scholarships to research in AI and quantum computing. Another bill would establish public computing resources to foster AI research.
Both of the latter bills were key to talks between Cantwell’s committee and the Republican-controlled House Science Committee in October. They are trying to decide what they want to do moving forward in their lame duck years. However, agreement among panel chairs does not necessarily mean leadership will take up the bill.
What’s already included: There are also a series of AI provisions incorporated into the House and Senate versions of the NDAA. The Senate bill would establish a “pilot program for the development and demonstration of short-term use cases of AI for national security biotechnology applications.”
Some proposals are coming closer to 2024, but the NDAA doesn’t seem ready. The Kids Online Safety Act passed the Senate overwhelmingly, but the coalition collapsed in the House. Different approaches to dealing with non-consensual nudity generated by AI also gained traction in the Senate, but have lagged in other chambers.
