A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced on Monday that a gathering of prominent figures from the tech industry, including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and other influential leaders, is set to take place at the Capitol next month. The purpose of this event is to initiate a series of policy forums focused on deliberating ways to effectively regulate artificial intelligence.
In addition to Musk and Zuckerberg, other notable CEOs such as Satya Nadella from Microsoft, Sundar Pichai from Alphabet, Sam Altman from OpenAI, and Jensen Huang from NVIDIA have confirmed their attendance. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt will also participate. Elon Musk, who holds the positions of CEO at SpaceX and Tesla, is a co-founder and significant investor in OpenAI, the parent organization of the AI chatbot ChatGPT. Mark Zuckerberg serves as the CEO of Meta, the parent company of Facebook. The closed-door bipartisan gathering, organized by Senator Schumer of New York, will include representatives from advocacy, civil rights, worker, and creative groups. This event, scheduled for September 13, seeks to make a strong impact, serving as the inaugural installment of what Schumer has dubbed "AI Insight Forums." These discussions will serve as a foundational step for senators as they embark on drafting legislative measures to regulate the rapidly evolving AI industry. While experts and lawmakers acknowledge the immense potential of AI, they also recognize its potential for large-scale worker displacement, misinformation campaigns, and interference in elections. In a major address about AI delivered in June, Schumer stated, “We have no choice but to acknowledge that AI’s changes are coming and in many cases are already here. We ignore them at our own peril. Many want to ignore AI because it’s so complex. But when it comes to AI, we cannot be ostriches sticking our heads in the sand.” Schumer has taken several steps to educate senators about AI and create momentum for introducing and passing AI-related regulations by the year's end. He arranged three briefings before the August congressional recess to facilitate this. However, some have expressed confusion about Schumer's approach, as major policy legislation is typically developed through committees of jurisdiction in the Senate. Schumer, on the other hand, plans to collaborate with the insight forums to craft legislation. Senate Minority Whip John Thune, a senior member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, noted his reservations about this approach, emphasizing the importance of allowing committees to work through the subject matter.
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