Members of Congress returned to Capitol Hill this week in pure freakout mode.
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Members → return → mode
There are apocalyptic scenarios about AI seizing control of water systems.
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AI → be → systems
But seriously, there’s real fear that Congress may be running behind on regulating AI.
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Congress → ’ → AI
And there are concerns that AI might be developing at such a rapid clip that it’s too late to harness the technology.
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it → be → technology
Suspicion about data centers has long percolated among voters.
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Suspicion → percolate → voters
Then former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon declared that AI could extinguish humankind within a decade.
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AI → declare → decade
This came after a swarm of OpenAI agents independently "escaped" isolation – then leveraged security vulnerabilities to hack the artificial intelligence platform Hugging Face.
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swarm → come → platform
The AI agents weren’t supposed to be capable of any of that.
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agents → suppose → that
Researchers say they even used covert methods to communicate with each other via a special language.
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they → say → language
AI EXTINCTION WARNINGS DOMINATE HEADLINES AFTER EX—ANTHROPIC EMPLOYEE'S VIRAL POST
"My phone has been ringing off the hook from a lot of colleagues who really saw the news of the whistleblower as a tipping point," said Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Mass., who has toiled on bipartisan AI legislation.
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who → ring → legislation
"Then people hear the words ‘human extinction.’
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people → hear → words
When they hear loss of control.
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they → hear → control
When they hear ‘catastrophic risk,’ I think (people) are waking up and they're saying, ‘Where the hell is Congress?’
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Congress → hear → risk
"It's not like we've been sitting on our hands here," said Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., an AI expert who’s worked on bipartisan AI guardrails with Trahan.
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who → sit → Trahan
"I don't think it's fair to say that there's been a reluctance to act.
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it → think → ?
It's just that the wheels of progress turn very slowly in Congress.
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wheels → turn → Congress
Is this like lawmakers trying to make sense of this new-fangled invention called the internet - or "information superhighway" - back in the 1990s?
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lawmakers → try → 1990s
When it comes to technological innovation, Congress has rarely been ahead of it.
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Congress → come → it
OpenAI founder Sam Altman has visited Capitol Hill on at least five occasions between 2023 and today.
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Altman → visit → 2023
He met with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., as recently as June.
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He → meet → June
"This is sort of an important, urgent and in some ways unprecedented moment and I think we really need the government to lead," Altman said during one trip to Capitol Hill in 2023.
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Altman → think → 2023
When Democrats were in the majority between 2023 and 2025, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., convened regular bipartisan symposia on AI at the Capitol for all senators.
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Schumer → convene → senators
He hauled in Altman.
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He → haul → Altman
Anyone who could educate lawmakers about AI and what they should do about it.
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they → educate → it
Schumer hoped that senators would develop their own ideas about how to legislate on AI and have a measure ready.
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measure → hop → AI
He wasn’t dictating what they should do from his post.
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they → dictate → post
"Our timetable in terms of producing legislation is not years, and not days and weeks.
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timetable → produce → legislation
But months,’ said Schumer on July 11, 2023.
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Schumer → say → July
It will be in the general category of months," said Schumer on Sept. 13, 2023 .
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Schumer → say → Sept.
"We're already sitting down and trying to figure out legislation.
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We → sit → legislation
But I still say months.
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I → say → months
Not years," said Schumer on Nov. 29, 2023 .
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Schumer → say → Nov.
Schumer along with Sens. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Todd Young, R-Ind., produced the document "Driving U.S. Innovation In Artificial Intelligence: A Roadmap for Artificial Intelligence Policy in the United States Senate" in May 2024.
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Schumer → produce → May
There was hope the House and Senate might latch some provisions of the package onto a must-pass bill in the fall of 2024.
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House → be → 2024
But it went nowhere.
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it → go → ?
"Chuck Schumer and I see the world with very different lenses.
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Schumer → see → lenses
He always wants to have a growth of government approach to everything," said Johnson in a September 2024, interview with yours truly.
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Johnson → want → yours
"I think the reaction or the knee-jerk reaction perhaps of the Senate would be to just go in and overlay this with red tape.
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reaction → think → tape
And we're not going to do that in the House."
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we → go → House
Now a group of Democrats is imploring Johnson to keep the House in session this fall until it adopts "meaningful AI safeguards."
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it → implore → safeguards
…and 24 more, not listed.
