OpenAI CEO to testify in US Senate next week amid questions about technology

OPENAI CEO Sam Altman will testify before a Senate panel next week as the US Congress grapples with how best to regulate artificial intelligence (AI) as the technology becomes more powerful and widespread.

Altman will testify before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology & the Law on Tuesday (May 16) on what laws might be needed to safeguard Americans as government and companies begin to use AI in everything from medicine to finance to surveilling workers.

It will be Altman’s first testimony before Congress, the panel said in announcing the hearing.

Altman was part of a White House meeting on AI last week that discussed how to ensure regulatory safeguards. In response to a question about whether companies agree on regulations, Altman told reporters: “We’re surprisingly on the same page on what needs to happen.”

Another of the witnesses is Christina Montgomery, chief privacy officer at IBM.

“Artificial intelligence urgently needs rules and safeguards to address its immense promise and pitfalls,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, chair of the panel. “This hearing begins our Subcommittee’s work in overseeing and illuminating AI’s advanced algorithms and powerful technology.” REUTERS