Young says labor issues could lead to bipartisan disagreements on AI regulation 

Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) said Tuesday that labor issues related to artificial intelligence (AI) may begin to emerge as an area of bipartisan disagreement as Congress mulls regulation.  

Speaking at the Axios AI+ Summit, Young said he’s been encouraged and “a little surprised” by the bipartisan agreement among senators so far during the closed-door AI Insight Forums.

“I expected more disagreement when it came to the role government should play, the extent to which we should protect workers in various ways from the technology. There haven’t been very significant disagreements,” Young said.  

But he expects “more disagreement” about the extent the role of government should play as the process moves through committees to consider regulation.  

Young added that lawmakers may also appear less willing to compromise once “television cameras are turned on and there is an expectation, to put it charitably, from ones’ constituents that their members of the Senate or their members of Congress to fight for the perspective of their constituents of for their base.”

Young is one of four senators on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) small bipartisan group in charge of Senate discussions about AI regulation. Schumer and the group have convened a series of AI Insight Forums — including industry experts, tech company CEOs and civil rights leaders — to discuss the benefits and risks of AI.  

Young said he has “tempered optimism” about AI, and one of his concerns is the U.S. overregulating the industry and falling behind other nations, namely China.  

At the same time, he said he is concerned about the potential dangers created by AI, including the potential to create organisms to injure or kill others.  

In other situations, Young said AI can help optimize time and increase efficiency. For example, in his office, staff used OpenAI’s ChatGPT tool to brainstorm softball team names in a joint team with Sen. JD Vance’s (R-Ohio) office.  

The Senate is holding its seventh AI Insight Forum on Wednesday afternoon, focused on intellectual property and copyright issues. The forum will include a negotiator from SAG-AFTRA, a union representing actors that recently won protections from AI, along with representatives from Sony Music Entertainment, the Motion Picture Association and Spotify.