OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to appear before Congress

close

Video

Senate GOP blocks Democrats from replacing Feinstein on committee

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., joined 'America's Newsroom' to discuss the significance of Sen. Feinstein's absence amid the push to confirm Biden's judicial nominees.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman will testify before Congress next week, a major step for lawmakers seeking to understand and regulate the fast-moving industry of artificial intelligence.

Altman's company is the developer behind ChatGPT, the AI chatbot that captured the nation's attention late last year, with Americans using it for everything from medical advice to cheating on homework. The AI guru will appear before the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on privacy, technology, and the law on Tuesday.

"Artificial intelligence will be transformative in ways we can’t even imagine, with implications for Americans’ elections, jobs, and security," Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said in a statement ahead of the hearing.

The sudden emergence of generative AI's like ChatGPT has kicked off pressure for Congress to start regulating the industry more heavily. Many of AI's top minds have warned that unchecked AI development could lead to catastrophic results.

CHATGPT FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS: CAN THE AI CHATBOT MAKE THE PROFESSIONALS' JOBS EASIER?

Sam Altman, chief executive officer and co-founder of OpenAI, will testify to Congress next week regarding his fast-moving industry and where it is headed. (Chona Kasinger/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN HEALTH CARE: NEW PRODUCT ACTS AS ‘COPILOT FOR DOCTORS’

More than 1,000 such experts called in March for at least a six-month pause in AI development so that guardrails and best practices can be set up. Elon Musk and Apple confounder Steve Wozniak were among them, but OpenAI's Altman was not.

In fact, Altman criticized Musk's public letter on the issue in early April, saying that a pause in development was not the "optimal way to address it."

Billionaire Twitter CEO Elon Musk called for a 6-month pause in AI development, but OpeanAI's Sam Altman argued that policy was misguided.   (Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"There's parts of the thrust that I really agree with," Altman said at the time, adding that his team spent more than six months after completing the training of ChatGPT 4 to study safety components before it was released.

ELON MUSK, APPLE CO-FOUNDER, OTHER TECH EXPERTS CALL FOR PAUSE ON 'GIANT AI EXPERIMENTS': 'DANGEROUS RACE'

"So that, I totally agree with," Altman continued. "I think moving with caution and increasing rigor for safety issues is really important, the letter, I don't think is the optimal way to address it."

ChatGPT is a generative AI chatbot that became an international craze when it burst onto the scene late last year. (Eduardo Parra/Europa Press via Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Few lawmakers on Capitol Hill have established views on AI, but most have recognized the potential the technology has to upend current norms.