Sam Altman To Meet Sen. Mark Warner Amid Growing AI Oversight Push
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is expected to meet with Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) in Washington as lawmakers ramp up efforts to shape the rules governing advanced artificial intelligence.
A person familiar with the plans said Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, will meet with Altman during the CEO’s visit to the capital, Politico reported.
Altman is also expected to hold meetings with White House officials and other members of Congress, though it was not immediately clear which lawmakers are on his schedule or whether additional senators will join the discussion with Warner.
The meeting comes as Congress weighs new safeguards for increasingly powerful AI systems. Earlier this month, Warner backed legislation that would require certain advanced AI models to undergo safety testing before being released publicly, according to Politico.
Warner also serves as co-chair of the Senate Cybersecurity Caucus, making him one of Congress’ most influential voices on AI, cybersecurity and national security policy.
Earlier this month, OpenAI Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane said Altman planned to brief Trump administration officials and members of Congress on the company’s next generation of AI models, as policymakers consider how to regulate the rapidly evolving technology.
The discussions are expected to include OpenAI’s upcoming models, the broader implications of advanced AI systems, and how they will affect the way people work, Lehane said at a briefing in Washington.
“We think that there’s going to be some really interesting capabilities with this model family, particularly as it relates to work and scaling work,” Lehane said.
The idea closely monitors a framework recently proposed by Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, who is set to meet with Washington offices this week to advocate for a similar approach, Bloomberg added.
Lehane noted that if Congress can’t create a national standard for AI governance, the plan would be to create a reverse federalism approach, where states would mirror each other regarding rules and regulations surrounding AI.
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