Washington, D.C. — On Thursday, a coalition of 50+ groups sent a letter asking Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) to appoint lawmakers committed to enacting strong safeguards on AI to key committee leadership positions.
In many ways, Tuesday’s election was a referendum on corporate power—especially AI companies that have tried to seize total control over the government’s approach to AI through super PAC spending and their close connections to the White House and key congressional leaders. The groups’ letter—convened by Demand Progress, Americans for Responsible Innovation, Encode and The Tech Oversight Project—calls on congressional Democratic leaders to appoint members who will commit to enacting strong, enforceable rules that put the government, and not AI companies, in charge.
“On Tuesday, the American people resoundingly rejected the politics of letting billionaire AI CEOs write their own rules for the out-of-control AI systems tearing through all aspects of society. Sen. Schumer and Rep. Jeffries must take this mandate seriously by appointing the right people to the committees that are supposed to write these rules,” said Demand Progress AI Policy Advisor Colin McGlynn. “Congressional Democrats must commit to appointing leaders who support strong guardrails for AI that will protect the American people and hold AI companies accountable for the harm that they do.”
“Following a midterm election in which voters expressed enthusiasm for stronger guardrails, it is now critical that party leaders help turn the vision that candidates shared on the campaign trail into federal legislation and oversight,” stated the letter. “That transformation starts with the right committee leadership.”