House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has urged Congress to take immediate action to regulate artificial intelligence. Jeffries emphasized the need to address the rapid growth of the technology and its associated risks, citing concerns raised by industry experts regarding potential threats to public safety and well-being.
The call for regulation follows warnings from researchers and executives, including leaders from Anthropic, OpenAI, and xAI, who have advocated for slowing the pace of AI development. In contrast, Donald Trump has expressed support for accelerating AI breakthroughs, downplaying the associated risks.
Jeffries has pressed House Speaker Mike Johnson to keep Congress in session to develop decisive safety measures. However, Johnson has canceled the final two weeks of sessions before the midterm elections, with the House scheduled to return on November 9. The Speaker has not clarified whether AI safety legislation will be considered before the election.
The Democratic leader noted that his party's internal AI committee is preparing policy recommendations and plans to meet with its co-chairs this week. Jeffries criticized Johnson for refusing to re-establish a bipartisan AI task force that would have facilitated cross-party collaboration on the issue.
While focusing on AI safety, Jeffries also supports the bipartisan Electricity Consumer Protection Act, which aims to shield Americans from rising energy costs caused by the data center boom. A vote on this proposal is scheduled for Tuesday.
