Representing California in Congress comes with a unique challenge: navigating national politics while reflecting the interests of the most populous state in the US, including a large constituency from the tech industry. It\u2019s a challenge both current California Sen. Laphonza Butler and Vice President Kamala Harris \u2014 who previously held that title \u2014 have taken on. And right now, governing the tech world means addressing AI.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Congress hasn\u2019t made much headway on a national framework<\/a> for regulating generative AI. But California is the epicenter of the AI industry, home to companies like OpenAI and Google. On the national stage, Harris has acted as an AI czar within the Biden administration, leading discussions with industry players and civil society leaders about how to regulate it. Butler, who has a long history with the VP<\/a>, is focusing on a specific problem: how AI systems impact labor and social equity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Butler spoke with The Verge <\/em>about balancing the interests of AI companies and the people their products impact, including workers who fear being automated out of a job. \u201cIt all starts with listening,\u201d says Butler, a former labor leader. \u201cIt starts with listening to both the developers, the communities potentially impacted negatively, and the spaces where opportunity exists.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Like many officials, Butler says she wants to help protect Americans from the potential dangers of AI without stifling opportunities that could come from it. She praised both Schumer and the Biden administration for \u201ccreating spaces for communities to have [a] voice.\u201d Both have brought in labor and civil society leaders in addition to major AI industry executives to educate and engage on regulation in the space.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Butler insists lawmakers don\u2019t need to make \u201cfalse choices\u201d between the interests of AI company executives and the people who make up the workforce. \u201cListening is fundamental, balancing everyone\u2019s interest, but the goal has to be to do the most good for the most people. And to me, that is where a policymaker will always tend to land.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n California state Senator Scott Wiener made similar statements about his hotly contested state-level bill, SB 1047. The bill, which would have required whistleblower protections and safeguards for potentially disastrous events at large AI companies, made it all the way to Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s desk before being vetoed<\/a>, with companies like OpenAI warning it would slow innovation<\/a>. In August<\/a>, Wiener argued that \u201cwe can advance both innovation and safety; the two are not mutually exclusive.\u201d So far, however, lawmakers are struggling to find a balance between the two.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Butler praises the steps both Schumer and the Biden-Harris administration have taken so far to create appropriate guardrails around AI but says \u201cthere\u2019s always more to do.\u201d Schumer laid out a roadmap earlier this year about how to shape AI policy<\/a> (though it didn\u2019t specifically introduce actual legislation), and the White House has secured voluntary commitments from AI companies<\/a> to develop the technology safely.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nA balancing act<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
More work to do<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n