Tech bills of the week: identifying sponsored content in AI tools; Reshoring biotech manufacturing; and more

Disclosing sponsored content in AI

New legislation seeks to continue efforts to publicly identify sponsored content that appears in artificial intelligence tools like chatbots and AI-enabled search engines.

The AI Advertising Disclosure Act, introduced by Rep. Set Magaziner, D-R.I., on Aug. 24, primarily seeks to require the disclosure of paid influence advertising on AI platforms. It would establish disclosure standards “in plain language” and ensure that the AI tools themselves are programmed to disclose commercial partnerships.

The bill empowers the Federal Trade Commission to enforce the bill, where violations would constitute unfair or deceptive acts and practices within the FTC Act. 

Notably, states would have jurisdiction. State attorneys general would be permitted to bring civil actions on behalf of resident plaintiffs following violations of the bill, and civilians would thus be granted a private right of action. 

“Americans deserve to know if the information they are getting is the best available, or if it is being manipulated to serve the interests [of] paid sponsors,” Magaziner said in a press release. “I am proud to introduce the AI Advertising Disclosure Act to ensure Americans know when and how advertising is influencing the information they receive from artificial intelligence.”

Bringing biotech stack manufacturing to the U.S.

Rep. Robert Latta, R-Ohio, introduced a bill on Thursday that aims to reshore U.S.-based manufacturing for biotechnology components. 

The Biomanufacturing Excellence, Domestic Resilience, Output, and Competitive Know-how Act, or the BEDROCK Act, looks to ensure that the biotechnology stack components U.S. industries rely on are American-made.

Latta specifically says the need to onshore manufacturing is a matter of national security, referencing efforts to wean the U.S. off of Chinese-made products.

“For far too long, America has pioneered new inventions, only for Communist China to build the facilities — stealing the jobs that come with them,” Latta said in a press release. “The BEDROCK Act would help reshore that work. This bipartisan legislation would create new opportunities for Ohio workers, strengthen the biomanufacturing supply chain, and make it easier for American manufacturers to produce at home.”

To achieve this, the BEDROCK Act asks the federal government to conduct an inventory on supply-chain needs and barriers, develop a prioritized action plan and map federal commercialization processes. A senior official from within Commerce would lead these efforts, with the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency serving as additional points of contact, particularly to help companies scale biotech component manufacturing. 

Fortifying quantum tech supply chains

Rep. Nicholas Langworthy, R-N.Y., introduced a bill on Thursday that seeks to spur the Department of Commerce to further fortify quantum information science and technology supply chains and U.S. commercial ventures.

It directs the Commerce secretary to promote trusted quantum tech stack supply chains and boost U.S. commercial leadership in the broader QIST field. 

Spurring open AI model adoption

A bill introduced by Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Colo., on Thursday asks the secretary of the Department of Commerce to further support adoption of open AI models, which are released publicly for others to download and modify.

Updating the NIST Act 

Rep. George Whitesides, D-Calif., introduced a bill on Thursday that would amend the National Institute of Standards and Technology Act to change how agency leadership assesses and coordinates AI policy efforts.

It tasks the director of NIST to authorize certain assessments and creates new requirements for select memorandums of understanding related to AI.