House and Senate lawmakers introduce bipartisan bills to regulate AI risks and biometric surveillance

A bipartisan House bill introduced by Reps. August Pfluger, R-Texas, and Josh Harder, D-Calif., proposes federally funded research competitions to enhance AI security and interpretability. The Reliable Artificial Intelligence Research Act would create two national competitions administered by the Department of Homeland Security, with $10 million in prize money allocated over five years. Companion legislation has been introduced in the Senate by Sens. Jim Banks, R-Ind., and Maggie Hassan, D-N.H.

House and Senate Democrats reintroduced legislation to prohibit federal use of biometric technologies, including facial recognition. The bill, sponsored by Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and Reps. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., would require an act of Congress to lift the prohibition and bar federal funding for biometric surveillance systems. Lawmakers cited concerns over Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection’s use of a mobile facial recognition app.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced legislation to regulate AI-powered cameras, such as those produced by Flock Safety, following a Senate hearing on automatic license plate readers. The Stop Flock Abuse Act aims to prevent local governments from selling or sharing collected data with non-governmental third parties, restrict abusive access, mandate audit logs, and establish data security and retention guidelines.

Hawley and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., proposed legislation to hold AI developers and operators criminally and civilly liable for instances where AI agents hack into systems or networks. The announcement followed a Senate hearing examining instances of AI tools breaking out of testing environments and attempting to hack into other systems, including federal agency websites.

A bipartisan House bill would prohibit AI chatbots from default human-like interactions with minors, including simulated emotions or relationship-building responses. The measure is sponsored by Reps. George Whitesides, D-Calif., and Mike Kennedy, though the bill text was not fully detailed in the report.