Bill by Texas Democrat seeks to restrict de­vel­opment of ar­ti­ficial su­per­in­tel­li­gence

WASHINGTON — Artificial intelligence is front and center in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit with President Donald Trump. As the two leaders seek to find common ground on AI safety, some lawmakers, including a Texas Democrat, are calling for a different approach. They want to place restrictions on the development of AI technology to prevent some AI models from going rogue.

The leaders of the world’s two biggest economies show no signs of slowing down the AI arms race.

“I’m not going to stifle growth of something that will be bigger than the industrial revolution, many say bigger than the industrial revolution or the internet itself, and we will be very careful,” Trump said in his address to the United Nations General Assembly this week.

But many are urging the president to listen to prominent tech leaders warning about potential catastrophe.

“We're really worried about the months ahead and the impact that this technology could have on everything from cybersecurity to protecting our critical infrastructure like power, water and transportation, and even, yes, loss of control scenarios,” said Brendan Steinhauser, a Texas-based political strategist and CEO of the Alliance for Secure AI.

Steinhauser said while it is important for the U.S. to outpace China on AI, the group welcomes congressional action to address the risks of artificial superintelligence.

“This issue is crossing party lines because it affects all human beings. It affects all Americans. It's really not a partisan issue to say we want to protect our families, we want to protect our communities from the idea of a rogue AI taking over the world,” Steinhauser told Spectrum News.

The Alliance for Secure AI said two progressive Democrats — Rep. Greg Casar of Austin and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont — deserve credit for taking superintelligence seriously by introducing legislation to limit it.

“The AI arms race is not a race that you win. It's the kind of race where when you step over the finish line, you fall over a steep cliff,” Casar told Spectrum News.

The bill would ban artificial superintelligence, which it defines as AI models with cognitive capabilities that surpass those of humans and have the ability to destroy humanity. The measure also would create a cabinet-level federal agency to monitor AI systems and pursue international agreements to prevent the development of such technology around the world.

“No government should want an AI superweapon being developed that could destabilize governments, that could hack into our power grid or that could develop weapons of mass destruction that could be used by terrorists,” Casar said.

Trump has dismissed the prospect of global cooperation on AI. He wrote on social media that he wants to leave artificial superintelligence exactly where it is and that the only guardrail should be the U.S. Department of Justice.

In a statement to Spectrum News, White House Assistant Press Secretary Liz Huston said, “Democrats cheered on the Biden Administration’s heavy-handed approach to AI even though it stifled innovation, hurt consumers, and nearly cost America its competitive edge. President Trump reversed that failed approach and is ensuring the United States leads the world in artificial intelligence while protecting our national security.”