Congress limits ChatGPT use in offices

The House is limiting the usage of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot that has skyrocketed in popularity since debuting in November, over privacy concerns.

Representatives are only authorized to use the ChatGPT Plus version, which has built-in privacy features that are “necessary for House data,” reads a notice sent by Chief Administrative Officer Catherine L. Szpindor, first reported by Axios.

The notice stipulates the AI-generated tool should be used for research and evaluation purposes only. Also, it says ChatGPT must be used with privacy settings enabled and only for non-sensitive data.

“Do not paste into the chat bot any blocks of text that have not already been made public,” it reads.

ChatGPT has become a source of debate on Capitol Hill, as lawmakers look to understand and mitigate possible risks associated with generative AI.

Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, which created ChatGPT, appeared before the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on privacy and technology last month.

In a statement ahead of that hearing, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), chairman of the subpanel, said ChatGPT “urgently needs rules and safeguards to address its immense promise and pitfalls.”

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), ranking member of the subcommittee, said the hearing was a “critical first step towards understanding what Congress should do,” while predicting AI will be “transformative in ways we can’t even imagine.”