Congress
Transportation works to ease fears about new AI air traffic control tool
Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., who has expressed skepticism about Transportation’s rollout of an AI-powered tool at D.C.-area airports, said he had “a good conversation” with FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford about the new capability that helped to alleviate some of his worries.
AI firms should be held liable for their models’ actions, lawmakers say
Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., have introduced legislation that would hold AI agent operators and developers criminally and civilly liable for hacking incidents.
Commercialization of fusion energy will ‘change everything,’ lawmaker says
Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., told Nextgov/FCW that the U.S. is only “two to 10 years away from fusion energy at scale” because “you can model the plasma using AI, which you couldn’t do before.”
Lawmaker warns intelligence contractors' Trump ballroom donations may be scrutinized
Rep. Jim Himes, the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, wants to examine whether contributions were tied to federal contracts or access to administration officials.
Senators propose voluntary telecom security framework after Salt Typhoon hacks
The bipartisan bill would establish cybersecurity best practices and independent certification, following the FCC’s rollback of safeguards adopted in response to the Chinese hacking campaign.
Flock camera systems receive bipartisan scrutiny from senators
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., criticized makers of automatic license plate readers for relying on agency customers to self-police the systems for instances of wrongdoing.
House Democrats call to cancel upcoming recess for time to legislate on AI
Four lawmakers stressed the need for more working days and bipartisan teamwork to respond to the national calls for strong artificial intelligence protections.
New bipartisan Senate science caucus will address AI
The effort is intended to engage in multiple scientific domains to strengthen U.S. innovation, including AI policy and regulation.
Lawmakers clash on safety testing language for in-development AI legislation, people familiar say
High-ranking members of the Senate Commerce Committee stand at odds with each other over how to best address “catastrophic risk” posed by artificial intelligence.
Hawley launches committee investigation into OpenAI’s breach of Hugging Face
Following reports of two autonomous attacks conducted by OpenAI’s agents, Sen. Josh Hawley sent a letter to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman for answers.
Democrats mull creating a select AI committee if they win the House
Reps. Bill Foster, D-Ill., and Ted Lieu, D-Calif., are advocating for the new select committee as a way to solely focus on artificial intelligence legislative issues.
Lawmakers ask Commerce to sanction Indian firms involved in mercenary hacking
The “hack-for-hire” entities have systematically targeted newsrooms covering corporate fraud, legal teams in high-stakes litigation and NGOs.
Democrats urge consumer product agency halt public health modernization project
The lawmakers say the project is particularly concerning as the Trump administration has a “broader pattern” of “seeking unprecedented access to Americans’ private data.”
House BIOTech caucus is weighing IP security and AI-enabled biotech policy
Lawmakers on the caucus say they won’t push any new legislation forward before the end of the year, but they spotlit intellectual property protection and AI-enabled gene synthesis as concerns.
House panel subpoenas Oracle heads over VA health record overhaul’s ballooning costs
The House Veterans’ Affairs Committee voted 19-0 to subpoena Oracle Chairman and Co-founder Larry Ellison and Oracle CEO Mike Sicilia after VA announced plans to boost its contract with the tech giant by $17 billion.
Senator asks NSA to update Americans about VPN spying risks
A congressional analysis found foreign spies could trace users by comparing encrypted traffic entering and leaving a VPN server, according to the lawmaker’s office.
Stopgap funding bill temporarily extends key cyber info-sharing law
The short-term package pushes the sunset date for the bedrock cyber legislation to Dec. 11, in addition to setting extensions for the Technology Modernization Fund and National Cybersecurity Protection System.
TMF will have $200M to spend next year without appropriations, official says
The federal government plans to announce new projects receiving modernization dollars at the end of next month, ahead of a possible expiration for the fund.
Lawmakers call for watchdog review of Transportation’s passenger privacy practices
The Department of Transportation “has never taken a single enforcement action related to privacy,” Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rep. Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, said in a letter to the Government Accountability Office.
Lawmakers press Commerce to restrict Americans from aiding foreign spy agencies
A bipartisan group says unfinished export control rules leave civilian intelligence services able to obtain U.S. cyber, surveillance and AI assistance.
