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Below: Leading AI companies launch a safety standards body, and President Biden endorses key children's online protection bills. First: | The Senate's hottest hearing: AI policy |  Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and professors Yoshua Bengio and Stuart Russell are sworn in during a Senate hearing on artificial intelligence on Tuesday. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) | | | When Sens. Christopher A. Coons (D-Del.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) held a hearing on how artificial intelligence will impact patent law in June, they kicked off the session on an unusual note. "If you're under the age of 35 out there, would you raise your hand right now?" Tillis, the ranking Republican of the Senate's intellectual property panel, asked those in attendance. The response — where seemingly a majority of the audience threw up their hands — drew gasps from lawmakers and Senate staffers. "Wow," said Coons, the panel's chair. "Even this old guy is interested in this subject, but I thank you all for being here," Tillis quipped. It marked one of at least four recent Senate hearings on AI that was packed with young people, a relatively rare sight for the chamber's subcommittee sessions, which are often sleepy affairs. The latest, a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing on Tuesday that focused on "principles for regulation" of AI, had a long line out the door — which seemed to be almost entirely composed of 20-somethings — before lawmakers even arrived. "The audience was around the corner and I've never seen that many people waiting to get into a Judiciary Committee hearing, or a committee hearing in general," Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), whose privacy subcommittee held the session, told me afterward. | | | | | | | | Social media is putting our kids at risk. We have a right to know how Big Tech is collecting their information and feeding them addictive content. Congress must adopt responsible safeguards now. | | | |  | | | | | Several lawmakers attributed the high level of interest among young people to the sessions' shared topic, AI, which has suddenly become one of the most talked about policy topics in Washington after years away from the limelight as a niche issue. "It seems especially particular to AI, this kind of intense interest, and very productively so," Blumenthal said. "I'm very excited and encouraged by it because we need these minds." Coons said in a statement: "It doesn't surprise me that young people are deeply interested in artificial intelligence: generative AI has opened new avenues for innovation, creativity, and discovery. It also poses very real questions about intellectual property and the appropriate role for these tools in a 21st century economy." The Senate's work on AI dialed up in earnest in May when OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, whose company is behind the popular ChatGPT tool, testified for the first time to a packed house. But the excitement over the topic has seemingly extended to lower-profile sessions. "It is great to see a packed house. It demonstrates the intensity of interest in this subject," Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) said before kicking off a hearing on AI and human rights in June, which also appeared to be dominated by young attendees. Coons's and Tillis's follow-up hearing on AI and copyright later in June was similarly well-attended. | | Some of those testifying have also taken notice of the youthful uptick in AI interest. "It's great that young people are so interested in AI policy and how tech impacts their lives," Alexandra Reeve Givens, CEO of the Center for Democracy and Technology and a witness at Ossoff's hearing, said in an email Tuesday. "AI impacts young people applying for jobs, looking for housing, seeking credit — as well as their daily experience in schools." Givens said some of those in attendance were some of her group's own interns, but she said she's noticed growing interest in the topic beyond the Senate. "It's not just Congress — during the Vice President's AI meeting with public interest leaders this month, Encode Justice, a youth organizing group, was there alongside CDT" and other groups, she said. | | It's unclear how much of the participation can be directly attributed to the topic over other factors, including the fact that Washington and Capitol Hill are typically flooded with interns during the summer. Some of those in attendance at the sessions identified themselves to The Technology 202 as congressional interns, and said they attended out of a particular interest in AI. Others said they noticed similarly high levels of attendance at other, unrelated subcommittee sessions. Still, some lawmakers are hoping to ride the outside enthusiasm as they look to get their colleagues more engaged in crafting AI legislation. "I'm just very excited that there's that level of interest because it shows something about our country. … They want to be a part of this revolutionary movement," Blumenthal said. | | |  | Our top tabs | | Top AI companies form new safety body, leaving Congress to catch up |  President Biden enters the room with tech CEOs to deliver remarks on artificial intelligence on Friday. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post) | | | Leading artificial intelligence companies on Wednesday announced plans for an industry-led body focused on developing safety standards for AI systems, a move that puts the industry ahead of congressional efforts to regulate the emerging technology, our colleagues Cat Zakrzewski and Nitasha Tiku report. "Google, ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, Microsoft and Anthropic introduced the Frontier Model Forum, which the companies say will advance AI safety research and technical evaluations for the next generation of AI systems, which companies predict will be even more powerful than the large language models that currently power chatbots like Bing and Bard," Cat and Nitasha write, adding the group would also serve as a hub for company and governmental information-sharing about AI risks. The announcement builds on news that the White House last week secured voluntary AI safety commitments from major tech and AI companies, though the initiative "is the latest sign of companies racing ahead of government efforts to craft rules for the development and deployment of AI" just as Washington policymakers are getting their feet wet in the AI landscape. | | Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) has previously said that regulating AI will be one of the most difficult tasks Congress takes up. Several lawmakers also said it would take months before AI legislation is introduced. | House GOP panel will consider recommending Zuckerberg be held in contempt |  The panel in February issued subpoenas to Meta and other major tech companies to provide information on how they moderate content on their platforms. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post) | | | The Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee led by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on Thursday will consider a report that recommends Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg be held in contempt of Congress. The panel in February issued subpoenas to Meta and other major tech companies to provide information on how they moderate content on their platforms. The report claims that Zuckerberg has "willfully refused" to comply with the committee's requests. The vote comes amid a sprawling effort from Jordan and committee allies to weed out an alleged censorship regime deployed by major tech platforms in collusion with the White House and other federal agencies to silence conservative viewpoints online. Meta spokesman Andy Stone in a Tuesday tweet said the company has "operated in good faith" with the committee's information requests. "To date we have delivered over 53,000 pages of documents — both internal and external — and have made nearly a dozen current and former employees available to discuss external and internal matters, including some scheduled this very week," the statement adds. | Biden makes plea to pass children's online safety bills |  President Biden delivers remarks during a White House event on expanding access to mental health care on Tuesday. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post) | | | President Biden on Tuesday gave his strongest endorsement to date of legislation aimed at boosting children's safety online. During remarks on mental health at the White House, Biden referenced the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), S.1409, and the Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act, S.1628, which together aim to expand existing children's privacy protections and give parents more controls over their kids' online activity. "Later this week, senators will debate legislation to protect kids' privacy online, which I've been calling for for two years," he said referencing the bills planned for consideration Thursday in the Senate Commerce Committee. "It matters. Pass it, pass it, pass it, pass it, pass it." The president in past State of the Union addresses broadly supported such efforts but his remarks Tuesday were his most direct yet of specific legislation. The measures advanced out of committee last Congress but did not make it to a full Senate vote. Some civil rights groups have pushed back on KOSA, arguing the legislation could force companies to collect more data on children and take actions that could impact marginalized groups. The bills would also have to clear the House, which has focused on a federal privacy bill that includes some increased protections for kids. | | |  | Rant and rave | | | A rebranded Twitter has cut ad prices, but warns that brands will lose verification status if they don't spend enough. Wall Street Journal reporter Patrick Coffee: | | California politics observer Aaron Green: | | |  | Hill happenings | | | |  | Inside the industry | | | |  | Competition watch | | | |  | Privacy monitor | | | |  | Daybook | | - The Senate Homeland Security Committee considers a bill to create AI staffing positions in the federal government at 9 a.m.
- The Atlantic Council holds an event on AI governance at 10 a.m.
- Georgetown University's Center for Business and Public Policy holds a discussion on draft merger guidelines at 11 a.m.
- Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo speaks at an American Enterprise Institute event on semiconductor policy at 2 p.m.
- The Hudson Institute holds an event on U.S. space and national security at 2 p.m.
- The Senate Commerce Committee considers bills addressing children's online safety and AM radio rules tomorrow at 10 a.m.
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