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Below: The E.U. tests Twitter for compliance with a new law, and the FTC sues Amazon. First: | Schumer's AI game plan, by the numbers |  Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Wednesday. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post) | | | Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) kick-started what he called an "all hands on deck" effort to craft new rules for artificial intelligence on Wednesday, a sprawling and potentially lengthy legislative attempt to grapple with tools like ChatGPT, as I reported. The announcement was light on details about what specific proposals may come out of it, with Schumer saying the Senate will look to hash that out over "months," not "years." But a parsing of Schumer's remarks offers hints about what direction the chamber may take as he spearheads a fresh push for bipartisan legislation. Here's a look at his keynote address by the numbers: | A bigger focus on AI 'innovation' than 'risk' or 'harm' | | After OpenAI CEO Sam Altman testified before the Senate last month, some industry leaders expressed concern that lawmakers focused too narrowly on the threats new AI tools can pose rather than their promise. The same could not be said of Schumer's speech. Schumer said "innovation" 22 times during his address and five times during his onstage interview afterward, according to a transcript released by the D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, where he delivered his address. | | By contrast, Schumer mentioned the "risk" or "risks" AI may pose six times and the "dangers" of it twice in total. Likewise, Schumer's memo detailing his framework, called the "SAFE Innovation" plan, put a spotlight on fostering "innovation," mentioning the word seven times compared to four combined mentions of the "risk" or "harm" AI may pose. Schumer at one point called innovation the "north star" of his approach. The focus is likely to be welcomed by business leaders, who are keen to keep boosting U.S. AI development, but is already miffing some consumer advocates, who said Wednesday that Schumer did not appear to be focused enough on curbing potential AI harms. "The way that a lot of people are defining innovation [is] pushing out more products and getting more contracts … even though we're seeing all these harms," Ben Winters, senior counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center advocacy group, told me. | No love for Europe and plenty of shade for China | | The majority leader did not once explicitly mention efforts in the European Union to enact new AI rules, which are significantly further along than the legislative discussions on Capitol Hill. Asked about his counterparts overseas after his address, Schumer took an indirect swipe at Europe's approach, saying other governments have "failed to capture the imagination of the world" in setting AI policies and that the United States could still emerge as a global leader. But Schumer did warn that if the United States does not "set the norms for AI's proper uses, others will," singling out China in his remarks and Chinese leader Xi Jinping afterward, once apiece. "The Chinese Communist Party, which has little regard for the norms of democratic governance, could leap ahead of us and set the rules of the game for AI," he said in his address at the national security think tank. "Democracy could enter an era of steep decline." And Schumer on four occasions invoked the threat that foreign "adversaries" could harness the technology to harm the United States, underscoring a desire to not fall behind in its development. | | TechNet CEO Linda Moore, whose trade group counts Apple, Amazon and other tech companies as members, echoed the sentiment in a statement reacting to Schumer's comments. "While China is striving to win the AI battle, America must lead the way in its development and deployment to ensure AI is implemented responsibly across the globe," Moore said. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post. Interim CEO Patty Stonesifer sits on Amazon's board. | Numerous lawmaker shout-outs, none for prior bills | | Schumer named three recent allies — Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Todd C. Young (R-Ind.) — and five committee leaders as lawmakers he expects to take the lead on crafting AI legislation — Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) and Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), the chairs of the Senate's commerce, homeland security, antitrust, intelligence and judiciary panels. Schumer also name-dropped five others who have been active in discussions around AI regulation: Sens. Michael F. Bennet (D-Colo.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) as key voices. But throughout the address, Schumer did not once explicitly mention any of the legislative proposals that have already been introduced by those lawmakers and others dealing with AI, including bills to create new privacy standards or to require that algorithms be vetted for biases. Schumer said at one point that because there has been "such little legislative history on this issue," that "a new process is called for." "In many ways, we're starting from scratch," Schumer said near the top of his address. "But I believe Congress is up to the challenge." Winters said the nature of the remarks "erases a lot of the progress that has been made about articulating the harms of AI … and what are some ideas to regulate it." | | |  | Our top tabs | | E.U. technologists to test Twitter's legal compliance in San Francisco visit |  Thierry Breton will visit Twitter this week for a "stress test" to determine whether the company is in compliance with the Digital Services Act. (Julien Warnand/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock) | | | E.U. industry chief Thierry Breton and a group of technologists will visit Twitter in San Francisco this week to conduct a "stress test" that will determine whether the company complies with the E.U. Digital Services Act, a sweeping content moderation and social media law that takes effect in August, our colleague Cat Zakrzewski reports. The DSA directs companies like Twitter to run annual risk assessments about illegal content on their sites, submit to independent audits and provide researchers with critical data about how their platforms operate. Violators can face fines up to 6 percent of their global revenue. "Twitter is voluntarily participating in the test, which will be conducted at its headquarters by a team of about 10 E.U. technologists," Cat writes, adding that the company would not face fines if it fails the test because the law does not take effect until later. The visit signals how the European bloc is increasingly exerting pressure on tech companies, while regulatory efforts in the United States "have often fallen behind other priorities, amid intense corporate lobbying campaigns and at-times partisan political fights," Cat notes. "Compliance with European rules is not a punishment," Breton said in a statement, calling it an opportunity for companies to gain access to the E.U. while working under a single set of rules. | FTC sues Amazon for allegedly tricking customers into Prime enrollment |  The Federal Trade Commission sued Amazon on Wednesday. (Alex Brandon/AP) | | | The Federal Trade Commission sued Amazon on Wednesday. alleging the e-commerce giant tricked millions of customers into enrolling in its Prime membership offering, our colleagues Caroline O'Donovan and Cat report. They write: "The FTC, which has been pursuing other companies over 'dark patterns' that it says intentionally confuse customers, says Amazon used 'manipulative, coercive, or deceptive' tactics to confuse customers into signing up, and then made it difficult for them to cancel their memberships." "Amazon tricked and trapped people into recurring subscriptions without their consent, not only frustrating users but also costing them significant money," FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a news release. Amazon makes it "clear and simple" to sign up for and cancel Prime, spokesperson Heather Layman told our colleagues, adding that the company was not told the suit would be coming despite company staff engaging with regulators. "While the absence of that normal course engagement is extremely disappointing, we look forward to proving our case in court," she said. | Google accuses Microsoft of unfair cloud businesses practices |  The company sent a letter to the FTC in response to the agency's request for comment about anticompetitive practices in the cloud industry. (Michel Euler/AP) | | | Google on Wednesday accused Microsoft of using unfair licensing terms to "lock in clients" and exert dominance in the cloud computing services market in a letter to the FTC, Rohan Goswami and Jennifer Elias report for CNBC. The company lodged the complaint in response to the agency's inquiry into anti-competitive practices in the cloud industry. "Google singled out Microsoft in the complaint, arguing that through its dominant Windows Server and Microsoft Offices products, the company can make it difficult for its massive roster of clients to use anything but its Azure cloud infrastructure offering," Goswami and Elias write. Google added that Microsoft's alleged cloud dominance also poses a national and cybersecurity risk. The company "highlighted successive cyberattacks involving Microsoft products, including the SolarWinds breach," according to the report. The FTC did not respond to a request for comment. Microsoft is currently testifying in an evidentiary hearing over its planned $69 billion purchase of video game company Activision Blizzard, while Google faces multiple lawsuits over its digital advertising and search practices. | | |  | Rant and rave | | | Twitter users react to yesterday's FTC lawsuit against Amazon. Business Insider tech editor Alistair Barr: | | Meta technology communications manager Tom Gara: | | Politico tech reporter Alfred Ng: | | |  | Inside the industry | | | |  | Competition watch | | | |  | Privacy monitor | | | |  | Workforce report | | | |  | Trending | | | |  | Daybook | | - The Senate Commerce Committee holds an FCC nomination hearing for commission nominee Anna Gomez and others at 10 a.m.
- The House Science committee convenes a hearing on AI and U.S. national interest at 10 a.m.
- The Center for Strategic and International Studies holds a discussion on North American semiconductor supply chains at 3 p.m.
- The American Enterprise Institute and Stanford University's Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence hold a joint discussion on how tech companies affect society at 3:30 p.m.
- The Center for Democracy and Technology convenes an event on disability rights, racial justice and broadband access at 5 p.m.
- OpenAI's Sam Altman, Signal's Meredith Whittaker and other tech executives speak at Bloomberg's Technology Summit beginning at 11 a.m. Eastern.
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