U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, has urged Congress to pass seven bipartisan artificial intelligence bills that align with the White House AI Action Plan. The call came during a subcommittee hearing focused on the Administration’s strategy for artificial intelligence.
Before the hearing began, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick announced a proposal from the Trump Administration that would allow the federal government to claim 50 percent of profits from patents resulting from university research supported by federal funding.
Following the hearing, Senator Cantwell expressed strong opposition to Lutnick’s proposal. “Secretary Lutnick’s proposal demanding 50 percent of profits from university patents resulting from research supported by federal funding is wrong-headed,” said Sen. Cantwell. “Secretary Lutnick ignores the basic fact that the U.S. taxpayers do get a return on their investments in these innovations -- successful companies using these patents pay taxes on the profits they make. That is how the system works when we reinvest tax dollars to support our workers, our public institutions, and in partnership with private businesses. At today’s hearing Director Kratsios of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy stated, ‘…our office has been a fierce advocate for basic R&D across all of our university systems.’ We all need to join Director Kratsios in defending the premier R&D system in the world today, so that the U.S. can continue to lead the global economy tomorrow.”
The subcommittee examined how Congress could help maintain U.S. leadership in AI innovation and global competitiveness. Cantwell noted that last year, seven bipartisan bills were passed by committee but have not advanced further.
“I want to, first of all, just thank everybody on this Committee who worked in a bipartisan effort to get, I think, seven different bills out of the Committee, unfortunately they were held up, and it's good to see the [Action Plan] goes down that same list of issues: education; training; trying to build capacity; trying to streamline, both with NIST and the rest of OSTP, how we can continue to move forward in a very fast way,” said Sen. Cantwell.
The legislation includes measures such as authorizing an Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute at NIST for developing guidelines and standards for AI models; establishing a National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource for broader access; creating testbeds for trusted AI systems through collaboration between NIST and DOE; promoting transparency and security through an accountability framework; supporting scholarships and educational programs via NSF; providing resources for small businesses about AI; and developing voluntary guidelines for trustworthy AI systems at NIST.
A transcript and video recordings of Senator Cantwell's remarks are available online.
