Artificial Intelligence

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.

Artificial Intelligence

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.

Artificial Intelligence

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.

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.

Artificial Intelligence

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.

Cybersecurity

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.

Policy

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.”

Policy

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.

Modernization

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.

Cybersecurity

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.

Policy

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.

Modernization

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.

Policy

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.

Policy

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.

Artificial Intelligence

Dem lawmaker hopes to add AI containment language to FRONTIER Act

Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, D-Va., is pushing for a September markup of the landmark AI legislation along with new language on model containment following the OpenAI-Hugging Face incident.

Exclusive People

House Democrats ask GAO to review CISA workforce cuts

Lawmakers want Congress’ watchdog to assess what capabilities were lost after the cyber agency shed roughly one-third of its staff.

Policy

GAO official suggests addressing AI risks through existing legislation

Nick Marinos, the managing director of IT and cybersecurity issues at GAO, said leveraging existing avenues for cybersecurity information sharing can expedite getting AI safety policies into law.

Policy

Senate’s short-term funding bill provides temporary extensions for TMF, cyber data-sharing law

The continuing resolution that overwhelmingly passed the upper chamber this weekend would push the federal government’s funding deadline until Dec. 11.

Artificial Intelligence

Senate Finance panel’s top Dem proposes excise tax on new data centers

Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden’s draft white paper calls for a new tax on hyperscalers and data center operators.

People

Senate confirms Adam Cassady to run State Department cyberspace bureau

The confirmation comes as the tech diplomacy shop he would traditionally lead in his new role has seen significant reorganizations in the last year.