Policymakers cool on antitrust waivers for AI firms

Policymakers cool on antitrust waivers for AI firms

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s call for an antitrust waiver for AI firms to work together on a safety standard is being met with skepticism in Washington over tech leaders’ intentions.

Congress has failed repeatedly to pass AI regulations for years, but some lawmakers are balking at the idea of technology companies taking the lead amid Washington’s inaction. Both Washington and Silicon Valley are facing mounting pressure to do more to prevent the catastrophic risks of AI, but neither sector has enough consensus, resulting in a blame game. Multiple lawmakers, agency heads and smaller technology leaders came out against Amodei’s idea this week, suggesting it could be used to shield the biggest firms from liability and allow them to steer long-sought regulations. “There is absolutely no world in which I will consent to giving the most powerful companies in the history of the world — a small group of three or four of them — antitrust exemptions so they can what … collude together? Absolutely no way that’s happening,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said Tuesday.

It comes after Amodei suggested in his blog that AI companies should collaborate to set standards as regulations stall.

But some policymakers like Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Andrew Ferguson and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) quickly pushed back.

Cruz, the chair of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, echoed Hawley during a Tuesday hearing, stating, “To watch AI CEOs saying, ‘We’re about to destroy the world, so give us control of the government so we can lock in our monopoly status and prevent any innovation from challenging us,’ is just lunacy .”

Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter , we’re Julia Shapero and Miranda Nazzaro — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.

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