Jayapal, Markey Statement on President Biden’s AI Executive Order
Washington (October 30, 2023) – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) and Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) applauded the Biden administration for heeding their call to incorporate the White House Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights into its artificial intelligence (AI) Executive Order, which the Administration released today. Earlier this month, the two lawmakers led their colleagues in a letter urging the Biden administration to ensure that the robust protections in the AI Bill of Rights were included in this AI executive order.
“We applaud the Biden administration for heeding our call to include key principles from the AI Bill of Rights in its new executive order on artificial intelligence. With the rise of AI posing a clear threat to our fundamental rights, we are glad that the Biden administration is implementing new safeguards as the federal government regulates, uses, and obtains AI systems. These protections will help us begin to address the serious risks posed by artificial intelligence, particularly to marginalized communities.
“This important order is a positive step in the right direction, and we will be watching closely to ensure its robust implementation. However, Congress and the Biden administration must act swiftly to lay down additional guardrails for AI across our economy – including protecting children and teens’ online privacy, addressing discriminatory algorithms, securing workers’ rights, and prohibiting facial recognition technologies. Together with our colleagues, we’re committed to crafting legislation that sets the rules of the road for AI in the years ahead. Our fundamental rights are at stake, and we won’t rest until they are secure in this era of artificial intelligence.”
In March, Congresswoman Jayapal, along with Senators Markey and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), led their colleagues in reintroducing their Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act to prevent the government from using facial recognition and other biometric technologies, which pose significant privacy and civil liberties issues and disproportionately harm marginalized communities. Additionally, Congresswoman Jayapal and Senator Markey recently led six of their colleagues in a letter demanding answers from leading U.S. companies developing and deploying AI—Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, Inflection AI, Scale AI, and IBM—on using underpaid and overworked data workers who receive no benefits but keep their companies’ AI products online.
Issues: Science, Technology, & Antitrust