President Joe Biden's plan to use emergency powers to push technology companies into providing information on their artificial intelligence programs has come under fire by conservatives and lobbyists who consider it an overreach.
According to the Biden administration, AI projects pose a significant national security threat that warrants the use of the Defense Production Act, a law from 1950 that grants the government emergency powers to control domestic industries. Past presidents delegated these powers to various government branches, but both Biden and former President Donald Trump used DPA powers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Friday, Republicans and members of the tech industry hit out at Biden's plans to use the powers as a check on AI.
Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told Politico that "there's not a national emergency" on AI, and said 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 that "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.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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