The framework features six principles for regulating frontier AI development and deployment. It calls for the National Institute of Standards and Technology to be charged with developing standards to protect against catastrophic harms from AI models, such as AI-enabled cyberattacks, biological and chemical threats or loss of human control. It also urges independent testing and auditing of frontier models, international cooperation to develop and adopt safety standards, and imposing liability on companies for harm caused by their systems.
With a background in technology as a former vice president at RealNetworks, Cantwell has long been an outspoken advocate for placing guardrails around the most capable AI systems. She was a co-sponsor of the bipartisan Future of AI Act, which was initially introduced in December 2017.
In a Wednesday statement to The Seattle Times, Microsoft president Brad Smith welcomed Cantwell’s framework, saying it “advances the public discussion the nation needs as we consider the future of AI.”
The release of the framework sets up a potential clash with the White House, which last week unveiled its own set of principles for establishing voluntary safety standards for AI to be developed and overseen by the AI industry. Cantwell’s proposal aims to establish mandatory standards and independent oversight.
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“To manage risks from advanced AI systems, we need clear safety standards, continuous testing, and reporting of serious failures,” she said in a statement. “America can lead the world in AI by building systems that are not only more capable, but safer and more secure.”
In another sign that Washington is beginning to look beyond the November midterms, a coalition of nearly 40 labor, progressive, faith and AI safety groups on Wednesday laid out their own demands for mandatory measures, including “independent, transparent government oversight with real enforcement power” and “a mandate that addresses human impacts from safety to economic disruption.”
In a letter to Congress, the coalition warned lawmakers that any bill that crosses their red lines will face “active, mobilized opposition.”
The letter was signed by Guardrails Action, the nonprofit affiliated with Guardrails Alliance, the super PAC launched in June as a counterweight to pro-AI election groups.
Many of the group’s demands mirror measures already put in place in several states, including that AI models are “not making final decisions to deny people health care or benefits, fire or discipline workers.”
As PYMNTS reported Wednesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom last week signed the No Robo Bosses Act, which bars any AI-driven decision to fire or discipline a worker without a human standing behind the move.
Cantwell could play a role in developing AI rules next year if Democrats take the Senate in the upcoming midterms and she becomes chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over key tech policy issues.
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