Bipartisan AI safety talks accelerate in Senate
Key Republican tells Semafor a committee vote could happen ‘this month.’
The Senate's bipartisan AI safety bill is showing progress, with key lawmakers expressing hope of securing a vote in the Senate Commerce Committee before the midterm elections. Senate Commerce Committee Chair Tex Cruz, R-Texas, is optimistic about marking up the bill this month if bipartisan agreement can be reached. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., is continuing negotiations with her colleagues on the text of the bill, emphasizing its focus on approvals, model transparency, and alerting of imminent harm.
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the Commerce panel, is also working on the bill alongside Klobuchar. Both senators believe the proposal is just one part of a larger legislative effort on AI but argue that Congress should act now on urgent potential threats posed by AI. Senate Majority Leader John Thune is somewhat more cautious, stating that it "remains to be seen" whether the proposal will ultimately get a committee vote.
The introduction and possible committee action are still under discussion. OpenAI's Chief Global Affairs officer, Chris Lehane, had an encouraging conversation with Klobuchar, stating that the company is prepared to support any federal AI safety effort that could pass. Anthropic previously informed Semafor that they have been offering feedback on the bill but have not taken a position on it yet.
However, some sources familiar with the discussions acknowledge that there are still significant hurdles to overcome, including internal Senate politics, dynamics with the White House, and garnering support from the AI safety community.
Written by urgent.news from Semafor's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
