[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 84 (Thursday, May 18, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S1715]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        Artificial Intelligence

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, so, on AI, yesterday, I met with a 
bipartisan group of Senators--two Democrats, including myself, and two 
Republicans--to talk about spearheading our bipartisan efforts to focus 
on comprehensive AI legislation.
  Our group agreed that because AI technology is developing so quickly, 
Congress has to move fast. Over the past several weeks, my staff and I 
have met with close to 100 CEOs of companies who do AI--scientists, AI 
academics, leaders in the industry of many different viewpoints, and 
critics of AI. And I plan to continue to do this.
  If harnessed responsibly, AI has the power to do tremendous things 
for the public good. It can unlock unimaginable marvels in medicine, 
business, national security, science, and so many other areas of life; 
but if left unchecked, AI has the power to do tremendous, tremendous 
harm.
  It can accelerate misinformation, breed new forms of racial 
prejudice, create severe economic disruptions, and hinder human agency 
in the most severe of ways.
  So let me make a few observations in light of my conversation and our 
meeting.
  First, as I said a month ago, Congress must move quickly. Many AI 
experts have pointed out that the government must have a role in how 
this technology enters our lives; even leaders of the industry say they 
welcome regulation. So if we were to fulfill our role properly, our 
approach to AI must be fast-moving. We can't move so fast that we do 
flawed legislation, but there is no time for waste or delay or sitting 
back. We have to move fast.
  Second, our group also agreed that any approach must be bipartisan. 
AI technology already touches virtually every industry, field, and 
facet in our society, so our process must be collaborative and must 
draw from a broad and bipartisan range of views and issues.
  And, third, we think we have a good case study for how the bipartisan 
process can work: CHIPS and Science. When the Senate passed CHIPS and 
Science, both sides came together on an issue that impacted the Nation 
and involved a lot of committees, inputs, and views--much like AI will. 
And because there was so much bipartisan overlap in CHIPS and Science, 
as there is in AI, it makes it a lot easier to do this in a way that 
brings bipartisan groups together from the very beginning.
  So I hope CHIPS and Science can be a model for how we approach AI. I 
thank my colleagues--so many of my colleagues--not just the four of us 
who met, for their attention on this pressing issue, and I look forward 
to continuing to work with a wide range of Senators for many committees 
and from both sides of the aisle as we move forward.