The law often struggles to keep up with major leaps in technology that challenge our perception of what’s possible in ways that are difficult to anticipate.
The transcontinental railroad was finished a decade before Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act. Telephone companies were worth a fortune years before the Federal Communication Commission existed. And the computer was deeply integrated into government and corporate systems well before the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act was approved in 1984.
With the rapid growth of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and large language models, we once again see technology outstripping the law. Instead of trying to keep up, lawmakers are attempting an innovation of their own—empowering whistleblowers to come forward with safety concerns rather than regulating the technology itself.
US Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), a long-time whistleblower advocate and the founder of the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus, on May 15 proposed the AI Whistleblower Protection Act, with strong bipartisan support. House members have their own companion bill, which was announced at the same time.
It isn’t surprising Grassley focused on the whistleblower protection component to AI regulation. But the question remains whether putting the...
You can be forgiven if, in the political chaos of the last week, you missed the all year. Maybe in a few years. Yet Senate Bill 1611 — the so-called ag-to-urban bill — on that day with wide bipart...