Press Releases

Rep. Don Beyer, vice-chair of the bipartisan Congressional AI Caucus, today welcomed President Biden’s landmark Executive Order establishing rigorous standards for AI safety and security, bolstering American leadership in AI worldwide, and protecting Americans’ rights.

“President Biden’s Executive Order on AI is an ambitiously comprehensive strategy for responsible innovation that builds on previous efforts, including voluntary commitments from leading companies, to ensure the safe, secure, and trustworthy development of AI,” said Rep. Beyer. “We know, however, that there are limits to what the Executive Branch can do on its own and in the long term, it is necessary for Congress to step up and legislate strong standards for equity, bias, risk management, and consumer protection. Now that the House has elected Speaker Mike Johnson, he should reconvene former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s bipartisan AI working group. As the artificial intelligence industry continues to advance, it is necessary for Congress to put guardrails in place. This work continues to be a major focus for me this Congress.”

President Biden’s Executive Order announced today would place requirements on model developers, boost hiring of AI-related positions in the federal government, create new standards for how government agencies can safely use AI and bolster privacy, direct the development of guidance to prevent AI algorithms from being used to discriminate, call for a report on the workforce impacts of AI, and much more.

Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) is Vice Chair of the bipartisan Congressional Artificial Intelligence Caucus and Vice Chair of the New Democrat Coalition’s AI Working Group. Beyer served for eight years on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. He is currently attending George Mason University as a part time student completing coursework towards the pursuit of a master’s degree in machine learning, in part to help inform his work on AI in Congress.