Democratic congressmen urge Speaker Johnson to cancel recess over AI — Anadolu Agency
Several Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives urged Speaker Mike Johnson to cancel the planned congressional recess and keep lawmakers in Washington to consider artificial intelligence safety safeguards. Anadolu Agency reports, citing Axios.
Letter to the speaker
The letter was prepared by California Congressman Sam Liccardo. It was supported by George Whitesides, Lori Trahan, and Ted Lieu. The authors of the appeal demand that the House of Representatives immediately return to work and not declare a recess until bipartisan initiatives on AI safeguards are advanced.
The lawmakers cited recent warnings from current and former researchers at Anthropic. They said that advanced artificial intelligence systems could pose an existential threat to humanity within the next decade.
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Proposed restrictions
The letter mentions the AI Kill Switch Act, which provides for people to retain the ability to slow down or shut off AI systems. The congressmen also drew attention to the FRONTIER Act, which is intended to create a nationwide regulatory framework.
The House of Representatives is due to return to work on Monday, but after a week of sessions it plans to recess until November 9. Johnson plans to put a legislative initiative on electricity costs for data centers to a vote next week, but has not announced plans to consider broader AI regulation before November 3, the day of the U.S. midterm elections.
