Chuck Schumer Looks to Pass Bills Against AI Deepfakes as Polls Approach

This past year, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has emphasized the need for legislators to regulate artificial intelligence (AI). Schumer and others fear that without guardrails for using AI to portray political candidates, deepfakes of candidates such as Trump and Harris would fill the media landscape and ultimately weaken the trust and faith voters have in elections, their candidates and democracy.

This comes after Elon Musk shared a deepfake video of Vice President Kamala Harris saying things she’d never said on his X platform.

Schumer explained that deepfakes were a huge threat to democracy and national security, revealing that there were a pair of election measures focusing on deepfakes that had been attached to the funding bill that needed to be approved by Dec. 31, 2024. The deepfake measure would ban deceitful audio or visual depictions of federal candidates generated by artificial intelligence that were designed to solicit campaign funds or influence an election.

The two measures, which had already been approved by the Rules Committee, were blocked from proceeding on the Senate floor after Democrats tried to approve them by unanimous consent.

Last month, a measure that banned deepfake pornographic images was also blocked by GOP lawmakers, who introduced their own resolution that wouldn’t hinder “free speech.” Schumer explained that Republicans were preventing the measures from progressing. He said Trump and the many who follow him don’t like or treasure democracy, adding that it would be terrible if this was allowed to happen in America.

Congress has historically not made a lot of effort to regulate big tech. However, with increasing threats from China, legislators moved to approve a possible ban on TikTok in the United States unless it was sold by its Chinese parent company.

One of the amendments proposed by Schumer that could help regulate artificial intelligence would work by authorizing cybersecurity and physical requirements be imposed on data centers that store advanced AI models. Another amendment, proposed by Senator Brian Schatz, would direct the secretary of defense to establish artificial intelligence implementation working groups in the Pentagon.

A third amendment, authored by Senator Mitt Romney, would direct that some senior officers in the military undergo training on cyber, data analysis, and AI capabilities and tools.

This all comes after Schumer announced in 2023 that regulations on artificial intelligence would be at the center of his legislative agenda for the 118th Congress. During that time, he discussed artificial intelligence and the unwanted repercussions of its use, noting that Congress needed to implement guardrails that would protect national security, workers and democracy while still promoting competition and innovation.

A clear regulatory framework is something that AI companies such as C3.ai Inc. (NYSE: AI) would welcome since it would give them certainty regarding the policies guiding their operations and future plans.

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