A bipartisan pair of lawmakers have put forward a bill to ensure that the internet's most important liability protections do not apply to content created by generative artificial intelligence.
Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced legislation on Wednesday that would modify Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act so that content created by ChatGPT or similar software is not protected by the law. Section 230 is considered one of the most important legal provisions governing the internet and protects platforms from being held responsible for content posted by third parties. Currently, the application of Section 230 to generative AI is a gray area.
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"We can’t make the same mistakes with generative AI as we did with Big Tech on Section 230," Hawley told Axios.
"When these new technologies harm innocent people, the companies must be held accountable," Hawley added. "Victims deserve their day in court, and this bipartisan proposal will make that a reality."
Justice Neil Gorsuch said during oral arguments in a high-profile recent case relating to Section 230, Gonzalez v. Google, that the provision does not apply to AI because it would be "content that goes beyond picking, choosing, analyzing, or digesting content," which would not be protected.
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The bill is among the first of what is expected to be a wave of AI-related legislation. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is developing a comprehensive bipartisan framework for AI in partnership with other offices as well as experts in the industry. Several senators attended the first of three briefings organized by Schumer on Tuesday, which featured an MIT professor explaining how the technology works.
Some companies, such as OpenAI, currently lead the field. Yet, the technology is equally driven by communities of independent developers online who often engage in open-source experimentation, making regulation a more difficult prospect.