Spooked by ChatGPT, US Lawmakers Want to Create an AI Regulator

Since the tech industry began its love affair with machine learning about a decade ago, US lawmakers have chattered about the potential need for regulation to rein in the technology. No proposal to regulate corporate AI projects has got close to becoming law--but OpenAI's release of ChatGPT in November has convinced some senators there is now an urgent need to do something to protect people's rights against the potential harms of AI technology. At a hearing held by a Senate Judiciary subcommittee yesterday attendees heard a terrifying laundry list of ways artificial intelligence can harm people and democracy. Senators from both parties spoke in support of the idea of creating a new arm of the US government dedicated to regulating AI. The idea even got the backing of Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI.