Rand Paul Spikes Kennedy’s Bill To Mandate AI ‘Kill Switches’

Senator Rand Paul has officially killed another Republican’s attempt to mandate the creation of so-called AI “kill switches” — mechanisms developed by AI labs that would allow them to shut down any AI agents at a moment’s notice if they got out of control. The man behind the attempt to mandate kill switches, Senator John Kennedy, says his bill is imperfect but necessary, arguing that lawmakers would never get off their “ice cold, lazy butts” to deal with the issue. Mr. Kennedy began pushing for his kill switch legislation earlier this week after Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei argued in a lengthy essay that there must be a global effort to slow down AI development. Mr. Amodei’s warning came just days after one of his ex-employees warned that there is a ten percent chance that artificial intelligence eliminates the human race. Mr. Amodei pushed back on that assessment, saying he believes the biggest risk is AI agents breaking out of containment and taking over the internet. Mr. Kennedy went to the Senate floor on Wednesday night to ask unanimous consent that his bill be passed. The legislation, he says, would direct the Department of Homeland Security to give options to AI labs about how they plan to develop their own kill switches. Those options would be presented to the labs within 90 days. The firms themselves — not the federal government — would have total control over when such mechanisms would be triggered. “It’s hard to know precisely what to believe about artificial intelligence,” Mr. Kennedy said on the Senate floor. “It is a breathtaking technology. I don’t know any other word … We know it was primarily developed by and through American ingenuity. Despite the fact that there’s so much we don’t know, we do know that it can make our lives infinitely better.”“We don’t know, but it has been suggested by people smarter than me that it can make our lives better if it doesn’t kill us first,” he added. “I think the American people are saying to the developers of AI, ‘Look folks, how’s this gonna affect us as ordinary Americans? Are we, as Americans, going to benefit from this technological progress?’”Mr. Kennedy — a tax-cutting, peace-through-strength libertarian-aligned conservative — says his goal is not to impose burdensome government regulations on AI firms, but rather to “figure out a way to strike a balance between innovation and public safety.”“That’s what I want,” the Louisiana Republican said. “I want everybody to benefit from this stuff and I want everybody to be safe.”He argued that his legislation is the only real option on the table at this time, with AI leaders like Mr. Amodei warning of immediate consequences of failing to either self-police or advocate for government regulations. The House of Representatives has already left town until after the midterm elections, which are taking place more than six weeks from now. “Congress isn’t going to do that any time soon,” Mr. Kennedy said of a comprehensive regulator package. “That’s not gonna happen. Right now, Congress can’t pass gas.”“I live in the real world,” Mr. Kennedy continued. “Congress is not gonna do anything. We are not gonna get up off our ice cold, lazy butts and address this any time soon.”Mr. Kennedy likened the AI kill switch to “an emergency shut-off” akin to a circuit breaker in a home. Dr. Paul, arguably the most famous libertarian in the Senate, then came to object to Mr. Kennedy’s unanimous consent request. Under unanimous consent, the Senate can pass a senator’s legislation so long as one of the other 99 lawmakers do not raise their hands in object. Dr. Paul happened to be the one to stand up against Mr. Kennedy’s bill on Wednesday. “When approaching something as important as innovation, as AI — I think we should make sure we have as many facts as possible before we dictate rules for the whole economy,” Dr. Paul said on the floor. “If Congress acts hastily before the technology is understood, Congress risks killing innovation and setting this technology back decades.”Instead of killing Mr. Kennedy’s bill outright, Dr. Paul sought to amend it. He proposed that an amendment be attached to the bill that would have established a six-member panel — three Democrats and three Republicans — which would later report to the Senate Commerce Committee with recommendations on how to move forward. “I don’t oppose the spirit of this bill, but I do ask that we make sure that we have all the information. We should not impose new regulations on AI throughout our whole economy without studying, without debate, without a single committee hearing,” Dr. Paul wrote. When Dr. Paul asked that his amendment be adopted and the bill be passed, it was then Mr. Kennedy’s turn to object. He said that his mother did not raise a “fool” and that he was well aware of the fact that sending legislation off to a committee “is a way to kill this.”“I would rather be condemned to listening to [OJ Simpson] jokes for the rest of eternity than to replace my suggestion … with a committee [and] yet another committee, with a summit [and] yet another summit,” Mr. Kennedy said. “Isn’t that special?” he asked jokingly of Dr. Paul’s suggestion. “I get goosebumps thinking about it.”

Rand Paul Spikes Kennedy’s Bill To Mandate AI ‘Kill Switches’

Rand Paul Spikes Kennedy’s Bill To Mandate AI ‘Kill Switches’

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