OpenAI CEO to Testify to Congress on AI Regulation
The CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, will testify before a Senate panel next week to discuss the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI). Altman’s appearance comes at a time when scrutiny of AI technology is increasing in light of its growing popularity in Silicon Valley and beyond. OpenAI's chatbot, ChatGPT, uses generative AI to pull information from vast datasets to generate words, images, sounds and conversational responses to users’ queries. The technology’s rapid deployment has triggered an AI arms race that has raised questions among ethicists and public officials alike. Some are concerned that the technology’s potential for misinformation could be harmful, replace jobs or have other negative consequences.
The Senate Majority Leader, Charles E. Schumer, has expressed an interest in addressing these potential risks and has indicated that he is developing a legislative framework to address them. However, he has also emphasized the importance of not curtailing innovation in the tech sector. The full scope of Altman’s appearances on Capitol Hill next week remains unknown, but it is expected to be a critical first step in understanding what Congress needs to do to regulate AI in the best interests of society.
Christina Montgomery, the Vice President and Chief Privacy and Trust Officer at IBM, and Gary Marcus, a Professor Emeritus at New York University, are also expected to testify before the Senate Judiciary panel. Altman is expected to appear in person and speak alongside the other witnesses.
