Senators Want $32 Billion Annually for AI Funding
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A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has released a sweeping plan for how Congress should fund and regulate AI, marking the start of what could be significant steps by the government to tackle the fast-growing technology.
The report, released Wednesday, calls for annual spending of $32 billion to help fund AI research outside the military. Senators say they also support prevention legislation AI-powered election interference in the form of manipulated recordings of what people say or do, ie deepfakes.
“We’re not going to wait for legislation that addresses every aspect of AI and society,” Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, told reporters on Tuesday. “In other words, if some areas are ready earlier than others, they should move forward.”
Read more: FCC Makes Use of AI Spoofed Robocall Voices Illegal: Here’s How to Report These Calls
The proposed law, noted earlier from The New York Times and Axios mark one of the US government’s biggest moves to address the challenges created by the boom in AI technology. Startups, including OpenAI, have become billion-dollar businesses thanks to technologies like ChatGPT, a chatbot that has reached more than 100 million users within two months of its launch nearly two years ago. Since then, AI has been used to reshape the tech industry, including at giants like Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft, which declared 2024 the year of “AI computer.”
(For CNET’s hands-on reviews of generative AI products, including Gemini, Claude, ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilotalong with AI news, tips and explanations, check out our new AI atlas resource page.)
This week, Google announced dramatic AI improvements to its products, including in attempt to search for a namesake. Apple is expected next month announced his acceptance similar AI features for its iPhone, iPad and Mac computers as well.
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While the congressional recommendations mark a major step forward, they are not the only efforts by the US government to address the potential impacts of AI. Last year, President Joe Biden announced executive orders that guide federal agencies to deal with AI in many different ways. The government was too is expanding its recruitment efforts in the technology industry, p one focus is AI.
The group of senators said their proposals do not prevent congressional committees or other agencies from creating their own AI plans, including to protect against potential discrimination.
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