OpenAI CEO Sam Altman appeared Tuesday at a scheduled Senate hearing on artificial intelligence and its ramifications.
"I think we also need rules, guidelines, on what's expected in terms of disclosure from a company providing a model," Altman said about elections and AI, adding "I am nervous about it."
Speaking before Congress for the first time, Altman suggested that in general, the U.S. should consider licensing and testing requirements for development of AI models.
His San Francisco-based startup rocketed to public attention after its release late last year of ChatGPT, a free chatbot tool that answers questions with convincingly human-like responses.
"There's no way to put this genie in the bottle. Globally, this is exploding," said Senator Cory Booker, one of many lawmakers with questions about how best to regulate AI.
Altman, asked to opine on which AI should be subject to licensing, said a model that can persuade or manipulate a person's beliefs would be an example of a "great threshold."
He also said companies should have the right to say they do not want their data used for AI training, which is one idea being discussed on Capitol Hill. Altman said, however, that material on the public web would be fair game.
Altman also said he "wouldn't say never" to the idea of advertising but preferred a subscription-based model.
Altman is also calling for global cooperation on AI and incentives for safety compliance.
An OpenAI staffer recently proposed the creation of a U.S. licensing agency for AI, which could be called the Office for AI Safety and Infrastructure Security, or OASIS, Reuters has reported.
“Artificial intelligence urgently needs rules and safeguards to address its immense promise and pitfalls,” says a prepared statement from Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut Democrat who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on privacy, technology and the law.
The panel's top Republican, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, said “Artificial intelligence will be transformative in ways we can’t even imagine, with implications for Americans’ elections, jobs, and security,” adding that “This hearing marks a critical first step towards understanding what Congress should do.”