On Tuesday, May 16, 2023, the US Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy & Technology held its first hearing on Artificial Intelligence.1 The hearing, called “Oversight of AI: Rules for Artificial Intelligence”, featured witness testimony from Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, Christina Montgomery, the chief privacy officer at IBM, and Gary Marcus, a professor emeritus at New York University. The hearings provided an opportunity for business and industry leaders to address trends, implications and risks associated with artificial intelligence (AI) with a view to assessing the nature and scope of potential regulatory and oversight frameworks.
The hearings come in the context of growing legislative and industry concern about AI and discussion around how to best inform and protect the public given the proliferation and evolving shape of AI technology while recognizing the potential benefits and practical uses of AI. The hearings are also part of growing federal legislative efforts around AI that indicate an increasing drive for Washington to potentially assume a significant position in the regulation of AI, aiming to strike a balance between fostering innovation and ensuring accountability and transparency.