Tech policy likely set for changes after election

WASHINGTON -- With Donald Trump heading back to the White House and the Senate heading into GOP hands, Republicans are poised to seize control of tech policy.

The extent of that control still depends on the House, where results were still trickling in as of Wednesday morning.

But Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who won reelection, is expected to become chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee in the next Congress, an important post for policy decisions on artificial intelligence, data privacy and other areas of technology.

Cruz generally has supported narrow legislation to address harms, such as those from AI-generated pornography and a package of kids’ online safety measures, but he has been very critical of the Biden administration’s approach to regulating AI, as well as bipartisan legislation to create a federal data privacy standard.

Cruz has said that too much regulation could choke off innovation and surrender U.S. leadership in the technology to China, calling instead for a hands-off approach that, according to an op-ed he co-authored, would usher in “extraordinary economic growth and prosperity.”

The 2024 Republican Party platform has labeled President Joe Biden’s executive order on AI issued last year as “dangerous,” saying it “hinders AI Innovation, and imposes Radical Leftwing ideas on the development of this technology. In its place, Republicans support AI Development rooted in Free Speech and Human Flourishing.”

The GOP platform pledges to revoke Biden’s order. It remains to be seen what that means for specific elements of the order already in place, such as the establishment of the AI Safety Institute at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Cruz’s more industry-friendly tech policies, however, could face opposition from within the Republican Party’s own ranks, especially on AI regulations. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has been a proponent of tougher regulations on tech companies.

Hawley teamed up with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., to propose a licensing regime for advanced AI models that would be managed by a federal agency. Companies developing such AI models would be required to register with the agency, which would have authority to audit the models and issue licenses.

Cruz has also opposed an effort to use auction proceeds to fund a Biden administration program to subsidize high-speed internet to low-income households. A measure the Commerce panel advanced would set aside $7 billion for high-speed internet subsidies from the proceeds obtained by the Federal Communications Commission when auctioning a set of wireless bands. It faces challenges given Cruz’s opposition.

In the House

If Republicans retain House control, as initial results Wednesday suggest, that sets the stage for a leadership tussle at the House Energy and Commerce Committee between Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, and Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky.

The current chair, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., is retiring from Congress.

The committee’s jurisdiction extends over several aspects of tech policy including federal data privacy, kids’ online safety, regulations governing social media platforms and some aspects of the policy governing artificial intelligence technologies.

Guthrie declined an interview request, but Latta told CQ Roll Call in an interview that he favors federal privacy legislation that has stalled in Congress, adding that state-by-state laws pose problems to companies that cannot afford large teams of lawyers.

“We have all these different privacy laws across the country, but if you’re a small- to medium-sized company out there, you’re going to say, ‘I can’t do that,’” Latta said. “And so we’ve got to have something done on the federal side.”

Latta said he also favors passing legislation to protect kids from online harms.

Bipartisan legislation on federal data privacy hasn’t made progress in either chamber, and Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the committee, has accused House Republican leaders of blocking the measure.

On data privacy and kids’ online safety bills, Latta said he would prefer to break them into smaller portions to get them across the finish line, such as sectioning off provisions on data brokers, rather than trying to pass them in one all-encompassing measure.

If Democrats regain House control, Pallone would become chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee. He has pushed to enact federal data privacy legislation during the last two sessions, including a bipartisan measure to establish a national data standard that failed to get a floor vote because of opposition from then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who said it would provide fewer consumer protections than California’s data privacy law.

Frustrated by Congress’ inability to pass such legislation, Pallone has called for curbing protections enjoyed by social media companies under Section 230 of U.S. law, which shields online platforms from lawsuits relating to content produced by individual users.

Pallone also has been a strong advocate of measures to curb data brokers. In March, the committee advanced a measure introduced by Rodgers and Pallone that would prohibit data brokers from selling location and health information on Americans to foreign adversaries.

Finding unity

On AI policy, there is some bipartisan agreement.

The AI Task Force led by Reps. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., and Ted Lieu, D-Calif., created with the blessing of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., would likely continue working on legislation that would address AI use in specific sectors.

The House Science, Space and Technology Committee already has approved several AI-related bipartisan measures that have seen little opposition.

A bill sponsored by Obernolte and co-sponsored by Lieu and others would establish a Center for AI Advancement and Reliability at the National Institute of Standards and Technology — essentially codifying into law and renaming the AI Safety Institute that the Biden administration launched at the NIST.

The center’s mission would be “creating those standards and creating benchmarks for the evaluations of advanced AI systems,” Obernolte said in September. “Critically, the standards that will be advanced by the center are both voluntary and consensus based,” rooted in feedback from a large consortium of stakeholders.