Can Congress do ANYTHING on AI?

Friends,

It’s abundantly clear that AI poses serious and devastating potential harms to our kids, our world, and our way of life.

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From chatbots that talk kids into suicide… to the Hugging Face incident exposing that AI agents can secretly communicate with one another and coordinate unauthorized hacking… to several AI CEOs coming forward in unison to advocate for regulation… we have absolutely every sign that AI poses an urgent and unavoidable threat.

I don’t just want to pontificate or stoke fear – I want to pass real legislation that actually meets this moment and helps us regain control of our future.

So yesterday, I went down to the Senate floor to push for a sweeping piece of legislation that could prevent some of the most serious AI-related security threats. My Artificial Intelligence Risk Management and Security Act would establish a permanent Artificial Intelligence Safety Board – composed of government agencies and independent technical experts – to evaluate AI risks and establish safety standards. Developers of frontier AI models would be required to provide the Board access to their models before public release… and require a range of other safety and transparency measures so there are real standards in place… not just a “we trust you” model.

You can hear me speak about the urgent need to pass this legislation here.

But that’s not all. I know the threats of AI go beyond just the development of new models… there’s also serious concerns around data centers, job loss, and more. That’s why earlier this summer I introduced 6 additional bills to help us get ready for this moment… building on my years of work trying to get more transparency and data on how AI is already impacting employment.

My comprehensive plan would help us prepare for four major risks:

1. Putting some guardrails up on data center construction.

2. Promoting competition and safety, including protecting against AI-generated child porn.

3. Addressing AI-related job loss and helping workers retrain into high-paying jobs.

4. Preparing for the enormous threats to our national security.

We can achieve all four of these priorities with my bills – the Data Center Tax Accountability and Disclosure Act, AI Agent Act, Safeguarding Against Fabricated Exploitation Through Artificial Intelligence (SAFE AI) Act, National Workforce Transition Fund Act of 2026, Promoting High-skilled Doctoral (PHD) Talent Act, and Secure AI Development Act – if Congress has the courage to act.

Let’s dive a little deeper.

Worried about a new data center in your community? My Data Center Tax Accountability and Disclosure Act would require large AI data centers to publicly disclose information about their energy and water consumption, emissions, backup generation, and other operational impacts – providing communities and local policymakers with significantly more transparency. It would also reform the tax treatment of AI data centers by conditioning federal bonus depreciation, a valuable tax benefit, on meeting strong efficiency and sustainability standards. More later on what we could use that money to do…

Worried that AI agents pose severe threats to our privacy, safety, and infrastructure? Want to use an AI agent but curious if you can trust it? My AI Agent Act would create a framework allowing trusted AI agents to securely access major online platforms while requiring them to act in the best interests of users, protect sensitive personal information, and meet privacy and cybersecurity standards. It also directs the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) to develop technical standards and creates an FTC registry for trusted AI agents, increasing transparency in this space.

Concerned by the disgusting threat of AI-generated child porn or nudes? My Safeguarding Against Fabricated Exploitation Through Artificial Intelligence (SAFE AI) Act would establish a testing and verification process for AI models, prohibit federal agencies from procuring AI systems capable of generating child sexual abuse material (CSAM) or non-consensual intimate images, prohibit software designed to circumvent AI safety controls, and create a private right of action for survivors whose likeness is used to generate AI-produced CSAM.

Worried AI could take your job, or that your child won’t be able to find a job when they graduate? My National Workforce Transition Fund would redirect the money saved by my Data Center Tax Accountability and Disclosure Act and invest it in a new fund supporting worker retraining, individual workforce training accounts, employer retention and redeployment grants, tuition assistance for high-demand fields, workforce data modernization, and innovative pilot programs to help workers navigate technological disruption. In short, we’re ensuring that workers – not huge corporations – share some of the financial windfalls of this new tech.

Additionally, my Promoting High-skilled Doctoral (PHD) Talent Act will help universities create accelerated pathways to PhD programs in critical STEM fields – ensuring that American researchers and innovators are prepared to responsibly develop AI.

Worried China will overtake our AI capabilities, leaving us vulnerable to next-gen domination? My Secure AI Development Act would ensure we stay on the cutting-edge of innovation by establishing a mandatory secure testing environment for the nation’s most advanced AI models before deployment, modernize the federal government’s processes for identifying and disclosing AI-related cybersecurity vulnerabilities, improve information sharing between government and AI developers, and create a voluntary AI safety incident reporting system modeled after the aviation industry’s safety reporting framework. It would also strengthen protections against efforts by foreign adversaries to exploit, steal, or compromise U.S.-developed AI technologies and supply chains.

Want more details on any of these proposals? I’ve laid it all out in a booklet here. You can also watch me cover all these proposals in a video here.

Look, this is a really frightening moment. I get it. I lay awake at night thinking about these threats and trying to craft solutions. Instead of meeting this moment with tremendous fear, I think we can meet it with smart policy that will help us mitigate the most severe risks and maximize opportunity and advancement. I really think we lead the world in responsible AI development – and rein in some of the most serious, existential threats.

We can act on these bills TODAY – we just need to keep up the conversation about these topics and encourage folks across the political spectrum to raise their voices and push for real regulation.

I am not giving up. I am not backing down. I am ready to keep fighting to get real regulation DONE and keep our world safe for our kids and grandkids.

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