Conservatives and tech lobbyists resist Biden’s AI plan

Conservatives and lobbyists are criticizing President Joe Biden’s plan to use emergency powers to compel technology companies to disclose information about their artificial intelligence programs, calling it an overreach.

The Biden administration argues that AI projects pose a significant national security threat, justifying the use of the Defense Production Act. This law, enacted in 1950, grants the government emergency powers to control domestic industries. Both Biden and former President Donald Trump utilized DPA powers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Friday, Republicans and members of the tech industry expressed opposition to Biden’s plans to use the powers to regulate AI.

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told Politico that “there’s not a national emergency” regarding AI and that regulating AI is “not necessarily what the Defense Production Act was made for in the first place.”

Carl Szabo, vice president and general counsel for NetChoice, a tech industry trade association, added, “This is a clear violation of executive authority. I expect a swift rebuke from the courts once this gets challenged.”

Some did defend Biden’s decision, such as Brookings Institution visiting fellow Tom Wheeler, who told Politico that Biden found a way to act on an issue that Congress has neglected.

“The reality is, when you have a non-functional Congress, your choices are to either sit around and watch the boat sink … or to look for ways to make the boat move,” said Wheeler, who chaired the Federal Communications Commission from 2013 to 2017.