US House AI Concerns

A subcommittee under the US House Oversight Committee held the Artificial Intelligence and American Power roundtable, and the discussion spread into a sense of crisis that AI could overwhelm every other challenge facing the United States.

At the meeting, lawmakers from both parties raised the following concerns.

• Federal data protection: Representative James Walkinshaw expressed concern about federal employees entrusting sensitive government data to AI chatbots.
• Deepfake pornography: Representative William Timmons asked whether non-consensual synthetic pornography of real people should be made illegal.
• Military decision-making: Representative John McGuire worried that AI could interfere with the US military's decisions on the use of lethal force.
• Power and climate impact: Representative Yassamin Ansari raised issues with the Trump administration's use of AI related to the Iran war, high power consumption, and climate impact.

Some lawmakers also acknowledged AI's potential in healthcare and the economy, but felt that major disruption could occur if regulation and safeguards come too late.

Experts and industry figures emphasized that while AI's potential is great, Congress needs to respond more actively to AI safety research and national security issues. Mark Beall warned that US AI competitiveness could weaken, and Robert Atkinson urged federal investment in safety research. Spencer Overton of George Washington University said that elected officials, rather than companies, should bear responsibility for protecting citizens.