2026-09-18T08:00:29.300Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/18/politics/congress-ai-inaction
2024年12月，一个研究人工智能潜在风险的两党国会专项工作组发布了85项建议，供议员们就该问题采取行动。该工作组的关键人物、共和党众议员杰伊·奥博诺尔特曾要求共和党领导层更进一步，成立一个专门委员会来起草立法。
但近两年后，仍没有真正的法律来遏制人工智能的快速发展，而特朗普政府已明确表示无意进行监管。奥博诺尔特告诉美国有线电视新闻网（CNN），他甚至无法让自己提出的专门委员会获得共和党领导层的批准。据一位消息人士透露，领导层认为该专项工作组已经完成了既定目标，现有的委员会可以根据其建议开展工作。
“我认为采取行动的需求十分紧迫，”奥博诺尔特在一次采访中表示，“过去一年半以来我们一直在强调这一点。”
这一事件典型地反映出人工智能如何困扰着美国议员：这个问题的复杂性与国会强烈的党派分歧和复杂的官僚体制直接碰撞。两党已提出多项法案，包括一项要求最强大的人工智能公司为其技术开发“终止开关”的提案，以及一项为所有人工智能模型建立保障措施的立法。
许多提案甚至从未提交全院表决，困在委员会的泥潭之中。议员们公开谈论他们中的一些年长同僚并不理解这项技术，并对议员们能否有效就此立法表示怀疑。
“如果人们把解决世界问题的所有希望都寄托在政府和国会身上，我认为他们会极度失望，”曾在现已解散的人工智能专项工作组任职的共和党众议员埃里克·伯利森告诉CNN。
近几周来，人工智能问题再次成为公众辩论的焦点：举报人和人工智能企业高管发出警报并呼吁监管，而美国总统唐纳德·特朗普、众议院议长迈克·约翰逊等人则警告称，放缓技术发展只会让中国在这场实质上的军备竞赛中获益。
本周早些时候，众议院科学、空间与技术委员会成员与Hugging Face、Anthropic、OpenAI及其他第三方审计机构的代表举行了闭门会议，向议员们通报情况，该委员会领导层表示。据两位参会消息人士透露，代表们被问及是否需要监管，或是可以自我监管。他们表示，自己致力于设立保障措施，但无法信任行业内的所有企业都会这么做。
参议院多数党领袖约翰·瑟恩呼吁采取“轻触式监管方式”。民主党人普遍倾向于更积极的姿态。
“我担心，作为人类历史上最强大的技术，人工智能正与国会的功能失调发生碰撞，”与奥博诺尔特合作推进人工智能立法已有一年多的民主党众议员洛里·特拉汉告诉CNN。
自2024年专项工作组发布报告以来，国会仅在人工智能监管的边缘采取了一些行动。一位资深共和党领导层助手表示，他们没有推进专门委员会的设立，因为领导层的普遍看法是，专项工作组已经完成了既定目标，现有拥有人工智能监管权限的常设委员会可以考虑工作组的建议。
去年，特朗普签署了一项法案，将在网上分享未经同意的露骨图像——无论是实拍还是计算机生成的——定为非法，同时要求科技平台在接到通知后的48小时内删除此类图像。本周三，众议院以压倒性优势通过了一项法案，限制与人工智能数据中心快速扩张相关的公用事业账单上涨。
但更具实质内容的法案均无进展。众议院科学、空间与技术委员会于6月通过了10项与人工智能相关的法案，但这些法案至今仍未提交全院表决。两党议员——包括瑟恩、民主党众议员艾米·克洛布查尔、共和党参议员乔希·霍利和民主党参议员理查德·布卢门撒尔——都提出了相关提案。与民主党核心小组一致的参议员伯尼·桑德斯近日也强烈警告了人工智能的风险。但在国会山，该问题尚无公认的牵头议员或专家。
“告诉我，哪位国会议员会去教其他所有议员Anthropic是做什么的。得了吧。国会中有一半议员都70岁了。他们不用工作人员帮忙甚至都不知道怎么打开手机，”曾与奥博诺尔特一同在专项工作组任职的佐治亚州共和党众议员里奇·麦考密克告诉CNN。
特朗普长期以来一直吹捧人工智能的好处，但其他共和党人在他就职前曾对过度监管持谨慎态度。据一位熟悉相关讨论的消息人士透露，众议院多数党领袖史蒂夫·斯卡利斯在2024年曾对专项工作组成员表示，他不希望看到严苛的监管扼杀人工智能的发展。斯卡利斯当时公开表示，他希望填补监管空白，但不要增加繁重的监管负担。
一些支持监管的人士认为，人工智能行业领袖的警告为他们的事业提供了支持——尽管他们对最终能否取得进展仍持怀疑态度。
“我的意思是，‘嘿，谢天谢地，欢迎加入这场讨论。’我很高兴所有人都开始意识到，这件事现在理应得到全国关注，”曾是专项工作组成员、共同发起多项人工智能立法的共和党众议员斯科特·富兰克林告诉CNN。“但我们为了让这些问题得到关注，已经在立法层面努力了很长时间。”
共和党众议员凯特·卡马克的态度更为直接。
“我们当然有能力做到这一点。我不知道的是是否存在政治意愿，”她告诉CNN。“我认为政治意愿并不存在，因为有些议员根本不理解这项技术。”
但也有人表示仍持怀疑态度——包括对人工智能行业异常呼吁国会介入的态度。
“我不会为你们收拾残局，”麦考密克告诉CNN。“为什么要由我来负责保障你们的安全？做好安全防护是企业的分内之事。你们应该自己设立保障措施。”
与此同时，民主党人近几周加大了呼吁监管的力度，尤其是在前总统巴拉克·奥巴马呼吁其政党优先处理该问题之后。2024年专项工作组结束工作后，众议院民主党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯成立了自己的委员会。民主党普遍将该问题塑造为普通民众与精英阶层之间的博弈。
“我认为，长期以来，大型科技公司和政治金钱一直在主导国会的议程，削弱了我们应对国家面临的每一项紧迫问题的能力。因此，我们不能依靠人工智能公司来主导这场监管，不能指望它们自我监管。这是联邦政府的职责。我们绝对必须应对这一时刻，”民主党众议员布里塔尼·佩特森表示。
民主党人也表示，监管问题并不像一些共和党同僚所说的那么复杂。与中国的竞争力是一个问题，但在一个由人工智能主导的世界里，竞争力又有什么意义呢？诚然，有些议员年事已高——但议员们也不必成为他们所支持的每一项法案的相关领域专家。
“如果按照这个标准，那么国会永远无法监管航空、医药或能源行业，”曾在两党专项工作组中担任民主党最高职位的民主党众议员泰德·刘表示。他所在的党派在少数党地位，即便没有共和党同僚配合，也仍在继续推进相关工作。“有各种常识性的监管措施，国会可以通过，也应该通过，并不需要任何人成为计算机科学专业人士才能理解这些法案的内容。”
一个两党议员团体已呼吁约翰逊让众议院继续开会，以便议员们能够就人工智能改革进行谈判。但这并未实现：约翰逊决定将众议院休会时间提前一天，议员们要到11月中期选举后才会返回。
但一些人表示，这并不是放弃的理由。呼吁约翰逊让众议院继续开会的议员之一、民主党众议员唐·贝耶尔本周早些时候安慰了两位选民，他们有一个四年级的女儿，担心如果人工智能的威胁成真，女儿将没有未来。
“我对他们说：我认为时间还有的是。”
https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/16/politics/video/capitol-hill-lawmakers-ai-congress-vrtc
Congress has failed to regulate AI for years – and there’s little sign that’s changing
2026-09-18T08:00:29.300Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/18/politics/congress-ai-inaction
In December 2024, a bipartisan congressional task force studying the possible perils of artificial intelligence issued 85 recommendations for how lawmakers could act on the issue. GOP Rep. Jay Obernolte, a key figure on the task force, asked Republican leaders to go even further, establishing a special committee to draft legislation.
But almost two years later, there are no real laws to rein in the rapid advancement of AI, and the Trump administration has made clear it has no appetite for regulation. Obernolte told CNN he couldn’t even get his special committee approved by GOP leaders, who a source said felt the task force had accomplished what it set out to do and that existing committees could work from its recommendations.
“I think the need for action is urgent,” Obernolte said in an interview. “We have been saying this for the last year and a half.”
The episode is emblematic of how AI has vexed US lawmakers, the complicated nature of the issue colliding head on with the intense partisanship and convoluted bureaucracy of Congress. Multiple bipartisan bills have been introduced, including a proposal to require the most powerful AI companies develop a kill switch for their technology and legislation to establish safeguards for all AI models.
Many proposals have never even made it to the floor for a vote, waylaid in a morass of committees. Lawmakers openly talk about how some of their older colleagues don’t understand the technology – and express open skepticism about their ability to effectively legislate it.
“If people put all of their hopes in government and Congress to solve the problems in the world, I think that they will be woefully disappointed,” GOP Rep. Eric Burlison, who served on the now-disbanded AI task force, told CNN.
The issue of AI has once again risen to the center of public debate in recent weeks, with whistleblower and AI executives raising alarm bills and pleading for regulation, while President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson and others warn that slowing down development of the technology will only serve to benefit China in what effectively amounts to an arms race.
Earlier this week, members of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology met with representatives of Hugging Face, Anthropic, Open AI and other third party auditors to brief lawmakers, leaders of the committee said. The representatives were asked if they need oversight or if they can self-police, and they said they were committed to instituting guardrails but they couldn’t trust that everyone in the industry would do the same, according to two sources in the meeting.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has called for “a light touch approach.” Democrats generally prefer a more aggressive posture.
“I am worried about the most powerful technology in the history of our world, of humanity, being on a collision course with congressional dysfunction,” Democratic Rep. Lori Trahan, who has been working on AI legislation with Obernolte for over a year, told CNN.
Since the 2024 task force report, Congress has taken only steps around the margins of AI. A senior GOP leadership aide said they did not proceed with a special committee because the broad view among leadership was that the task force had accomplished what it set out to do and the standing committees that already have AI jurisdiction had the recommendations from the task force to consider.
Last year, Trump signed into law a bill that made it illegal to share online nonconsensual, explicit images — real or computer-generated — that also required tech platforms to remove such images within 48 hours of being notified about them. On Wednesday, the House overwhelmingly passed a bill to limit the rising cost of utility bills linked to the rapid expansion of data centers that power AI.
But more substantive bills have gone nowhere. The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology passed 10 AI-related bills out of committee in June that still have not been brought to the floor. Lawmakers in both parties – including Thune, Democratic Rep. Amy Klobuchar, GOP Sen. Josh Hawley and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal – have put forward proposals. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with Democrats, has stridently warned in recent days about the dangers of AI. But there is no agreed-upon leader or expert on the issue in Capitol Hill.
“Tell me what congressman is going to educate every other congressman on what Anthropic does. Give me a break. Half the Congress is 70 years old. They don’t even know how to turn on their cell phone without help from staff,” GOP Rep. Rich McCormick of Georgia, who served on the task force with Obernolte, told CNN.
Trump has long touted the benefits of AI, but other Republicans had been wary of over-regulation before he took office. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told members of the task force in 2024 that he was not interested in seeing heavy regulations stifling AI, according to a source familiar with the discussion. Scalise said publicly at the time that he wanted to fill in gaps but not add burdensome regulations.
Some who favor regulation see their cause buoyed by warnings from AI industry leaders – even if they’re wary anything will happen.
“My message is like, ‘Hey, thank goodness. Welcome to the party.’ I’m glad everybody’s getting on board that this now has the national attention that it deserves,’” GOP Rep. Scott Franklin, a former member of the task force and co-sponsor on a number of pieces of AI legislation, told CNN. “But this is something we’ve been working on legislatively for a long time trying to get the attention to have these issues looked at.”
GOP Rep. Kat Cammack was even more pointed.
“We certainly have the capability to do it. I don’t know if the political will is there,” she told CNN. “I think the political will doesn’t exist because you have members that don’t really understand it.”
But others say their skepticism remains – including of the unusual calls from the AI industry for congressional intervention.
“I’m not bailing you out,” McCormick told CNN. “Why am I responsible for you being safe? That’s good business. Being safe is good business. You put the guardrails on yourself.”
Democrats, meanwhile, have intensified their calls for regulation in recent weeks, particularly after former President Barack Obama called on his party to prioritize the issue. After the task force concluded its work in 2024, the top Democrat in the House, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, created his own commission. The party has generally sought to frame the issue as one of the everyman vs. the elites.
“I think that for far too long, big tech and money in politics have driven agendas in Congress that have crippled our ability to meet the moment on every urgent issue facing the country. So, we can’t rely on AI companies to lead the way on this, to regulate themselves. This is the role of the federal government. And it is absolutely essential that we rise to meet this moment,” Democratic Rep. Brittany Pettersen said.
Democrats, too, suggest the issue of regulation is not as complicated as some of their GOP colleagues suggest. Competitiveness with China is an issue, but what good is competition in a world run by AI? Sure, some lawmakers are aging – but lawmakers have never had to be subject matter experts for every bill they support.
“If you took that standard, then Congress could never regulate airplanes or medicine or energy,” said Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu, who was the top Democrat on the bipartisan task force and has continued the work in the minority even without a GOP counterpart. “There’s all sorts of regulations that are common sense that Congress can pass and should pass and doesn’t require anyone being a computer science major to understand what these bills do.”
A bipartisan group of members have called on Johnson to keep the House in session so lawmakers can work on negotiating AI reforms. That’s not happening: Johnson decided instead to send the House home a day early, not to return until after the November midterms.
But some say it’s not reason to give up. Democratic Rep. Don Beyer, one of the lawmakers calling on Johnson to keep the House in session, found himself consoling two of his constituents earlier this week who have a fourth-grade daughter and are worried there will not be a future for her if the threats of AI come true.
“I said to them: I think there is still time.”
https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/16/politics/video/capitol-hill-lawmakers-ai-congress-vrtc
