Schumer releases long-awaited AI roadmap: Here’s what it includes

A bipartisan working group led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) released a long-awaited framework for artificial intelligence (AI) guidance Wednesday.  

The AI roadmap encourages at least $32 billion to be allocated in nondefense AI innovation, but is light on calls for specific regulations as part of the guidance released.  

The 31-page document comes after months of closed-door AI Insight Forums convened by Schumer that invited experts and stakeholders — including tech CEOs, civil rights leaders and researchers — to discuss benefits and risks of AI with senators. Schumer worked alongside Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) to put the AI guidance together.

The proposed $32 billion in funding by 2026, one of the most direct details in the guidance, comes from a spending level proposed by the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence. The recommended funding goals aim to boost U.S. innovation on AI to maintain global competitiveness.

But the roadmap seems to sidestep making any calls for new laws to regulate AI, as some lawmakers and advocates have been calling for. The roadmap’s priorities include ensuring the enforcement of existing laws for AI and encouraging committees in Congress to work in considering new ones.  

“After talking to advocates, critics, academics, labor groups, civil rights leaders, stakeholders, developers, and more, our working group was able to identify key areas of policy that have bipartisan consensus. Now, the work continues with our Committees, Chairmen, and Ranking Members to develop and advance legislation with urgency and humility,” Schumer said in a statement.  

The roadmap does state that the AI Working Group “supports a strong, comprehensive federal data privacy law to protect personal information.” The chairs of the House and Senate Commerce committees unveiled in April a new bipartisan data privacy proposal, the American Privacy Rights Act of 2024.  

Schumer has highlighted election risks as a high priority for tackling AI concerns. The roadmap, though, is brief in its guidance around elections and democracy. The guidance “encourages the relevant committees and AI developers and deployers to advance effective watermarking and digital content provenance as it relates to AI-generated or AI-augmented election content.” 

On Wednesday morning, the Senate Rules Committee is considering three AI bills, including two related to AI transparency and regulation in election material.  

As Congress continues to mull regulation, tech companies are continuing to speed ahead with AI updates.

In back-to-back live announcements Monday and Tuesday, Google and OpenAI unveiled updates of their respective generative AI tools, Gemini and ChatGPT.