For years, Congress has been working on a bipartisan basis to finalize a federal data privacy legislation. The federal effort was originally prompted by states like California passing their own data privacy bills and the European Union implementing the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Once Congress (and the business community) realized that trends are leaning towards a complex patchwork of laws, it made sense to come to the table to build a meaningful federal privacy law. Each year, Congress gets a bit closer, but always seems to get hung up on a small set of core issues (often related to Democrats wanting a private right of action or Republicans wanting a full federal pre-emption). This year was no different as the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Commerce Committee drafted legislation together, only to be unraveled when it was time to move the bill.
The artificial intelligence (AI) policy space should learn some lessons here. States, for example, are now starting to develop legislation that would regulate AI. California was first to the table and others are quickly following. There has been a strong and unusually bipartisan effort in Congress to regulate AI, but some of the details have begun to unwind the effort. It is not outside the realm of possibility that if Congress does not work with some urgency, they could be in the same boat with AI that they are in with data privacy.
The good news is that the House and Senate are methodically studying legislative possibilities. The Senate AI Caucus has produced a bipartisan framework and continue to work towards legislation (which some have reported could come this year). The House AI Task Force is working on finalizing their own bipartisan report on potential paths forward. The broader AI ecosystem is also very engaged, as they should be given the bottom-line impact to their technology solutions.
Like data privacy, regulating or legislating around AI has its own complexities, not the least of which is the constant emergence of new technologies (the risk that regulating is constantly lagging behind innovation).
The House and Senate are well-positioned to do something on AI, although what that actual package is may be somewhat in question…as is the likelihood that it crosses the finish line.
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