WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� With artificial intelligence at a of development, the federal government is about to transition from one that prioritized AI safeguards to one more focused on eliminating red tape.
That鈥檚 a promising prospect for some investors but creates uncertainty about the future of any guardrails on the technology, especially around the use of and .
President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to President Joe Biden鈥檚 sweeping AI executive order, which sought to protect people鈥檚 rights and safety without stifling . He hasn鈥檛 specified what he would do in its place, but the platform of the Republican National Committee, which he , said AI development should be 鈥渞ooted in Free Speech and Human Flourishing.鈥�
It鈥檚 an open question whether Congress, soon to be fully controlled by Republicans, will be interested in passing any AI-related legislation. Interviews with a dozen lawmakers and industry experts reveal there is still interest in boosting the technology鈥檚 and cracking down .
Yet the use of AI in elections and in spreading misinformation is likely to take a backseat as GOP lawmakers turn away from anything they view as potentially suppressing innovation or free speech.
鈥淎I has incredible potential to enhance human productivity and positively benefit our economy,鈥� said Rep. Jay Obernolte, a California Republican widely seen as a leader in the evolving technology. 鈥淲e need to strike an appropriate balance between putting in place the framework to prevent the harmful things from happening while at the same time enabling innovation.鈥�
Artificial intelligence interests have been expecting sweeping federal legislation for years. But Congress, , failed to pass any artificial intelligence bill, instead producing only a series of proposals and reports.
Some lawmakers believe there is enough bipartisan interest around some AI-related issues to get a bill passed.
鈥淚 find there are Republicans that are very interested in this topic,鈥� said Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, singling out national security as one area of potential agreement. "I am confident I will be able to work with them as I have in the past.鈥�
It鈥檚 still unclear how much Republicans want the federal government to intervene in AI development. Few showed interest before this year's election in regulating how the Federal Election Commission or the Federal Communications Commission handled AI-generated content, worrying that it would raise First Amendment issues at the same time that Trump鈥檚 campaign and other Republicans were using the technology to create political memes.
The FCC was in the middle of a lengthy process for developing AI-related regulations when Trump won the presidency. That work has since been halted under long-established rules covering a change in administrations.
Trump has expressed both interest and skepticism in artificial intelligence.
During a Fox Business interview earlier this year, he called the technology 鈥渧ery dangerous鈥� and 鈥渟o scary鈥� because 鈥渢here鈥檚 no real solution.鈥� But his campaign and supporters also embraced AI-generated images more than their Democratic opponents. They often used them in social media posts that weren鈥檛 meant to mislead, but rather to further entrench Republican political views.
Elon Musk, Trump's close adviser and a founder of several companies that rely on AI, also has shown a mix of concern and excitement about the technology, depending on how it is applied.
Musk used X, the social media platform he owns, to throughout the election. Operatives from Americans for Responsible Innovation, a nonprofit focused on artificial intelligence, have publicly been pushing Trump to tap Musk as his top adviser on the technology.
鈥淲e think that Elon has a pretty sophisticated understating of both the opportunities and risks of advanced AI systems,鈥� said Doug Calidas, a top operative from the group.
But Musk advising Trump on artificial intelligence worries others. Peters argued it could undercut the president.
鈥淚t is a concern,鈥� said the Michigan Democrat. 鈥淲henever you have anybody that has a strong financial interest in a particular technology, you should take their advice and counsel with a grain of salt.鈥�
In the , many AI experts expressed concern about an eleventh-hour deepfake 鈥� a lifelike AI image, video or audio clip 鈥� that would sway or confuse voters as they headed to the polls. While those fears were never realized, AI still played a role in the election, said Vivian Schiller, executive director of Aspen Digital, part of the nonpartisan Aspen Institute think tank.
鈥淚 would not use the term that I hear a lot of people using, which is it was the dog that didn鈥檛 bark,鈥� she said of AI in the 2024 election. 鈥淚t was there, just not in the way that we expected.鈥�
Campaigns used AI in algorithms to target messages to voters. AI-generated memes, though not lifelike enough to be mistaken as real, felt true enough to deepen partisan divisions.
A political consultant mimicked Joe Biden鈥檚 voice in that could have dissuaded voters from coming to the polls during New Hampshire's primary if they hadn鈥檛 been caught quickly. And foreign actors to create and automate fake online profiles and websites that spread disinformation to a U.S. audience.
Even if AI didn鈥檛 ultimately influence the election outcome, the technology made political inroads and contributed to an environment where U.S. voters that what they are seeing is true. That dynamic is part of the reason some in the AI industry want to see regulations that establish guidelines.
鈥淧resident Trump and people on his team have said they don鈥檛 want to stifle the technology and they do want to support its development, so that is welcome news,鈥� said Craig Albright, the top lobbyist and senior vice president at , a trade group whose members include OpenAI, Oracle and IBM. 鈥淚t is our view that passing national laws to set the rules of the road will be good for developing markets for the technology."
AI safety advocates during a in San Francisco made similar arguments, according to Suresh Venkatasubramanian, director of the Center for Tech Responsibility at Brown University.
鈥淏y putting literal guardrails, lanes, road rules, we were able to get cars that could roll a lot faster,鈥� said Venkatasubramanian, a former Biden administration official who helped craft White House principles for approaching AI.
Rob Weissman, co-president of the advocacy group Public Citizen, said he's not hopeful about the prospects for federal legislation and is concerned about Trump鈥檚 pledge to rescind Biden鈥檚 executive order, which created an initial set of national standards for the industry. His group has advocated for federal regulation of generative AI in elections.
鈥淭he safeguards are themselves ways to promote innovation so that we have AI that鈥檚 useful and safe and doesn鈥檛 exclude people and promotes the technology in ways that serve the public interest,鈥� he said.
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Dan Merica And Ali Swenson, The Associated Press
