The Future of Life Institute letter published in March earned more than 33,000 signatures, including from technology leaders like Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.
The goal was to “sound the alarm on the risks of uncontrolled AI development,” Landon Klein, U.S. policy director for The Future of Life Institute, told The Hill.
“There’s no denying the letter was successful in catalyzing a conversation about this,” Klein said.
“It’s clear now there’s a global conversation about AI safety risks,” he added.
The conversation has been moving forward in Washington, D.C. — but lawmakers have yet to coalesce around a legislative proposal.
Last week, senators met with leaders of civil society groups and CEOs of companies involved in artificial intelligence AI, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
The forum followed Senate briefings and hearings on AI.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) unveiled a broad framework for AI legislation in June, but other more specific proposals are starting to emerge.
Earlier this month Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) released a proposal for AI regulation that would require AI companies to apply for licensing and clarify that a tech liability shield would not protect Ai companies from lawsuits.
Last week, Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Hawley, Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) released a proposal aimed at banning deceptive AI-generated content in political ads.
A spokesperson for Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) said Thursday the senator is also working on bipartisan legislation.
As Congress considers proposals, the Biden administration has also gained voluntary commitments from companies including Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI to manage risks posed by AI.
And federal agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice, have pledged to crack down on harmful AI practices.
At the same time, companies are continuing to expand in the realm of AI. Just this week Amazon unveiled a version of its voice assistant Alexa with more generative AI features, and Google expanded the capabilities of its AI tool Bard.
