AI Pre-Approval Proposal Could Hand Washington a Kill Switch Over Speech and Innovation

Reports indicate that the White House is considering an executive order establishing a new working group to regulate artificial intelligence that would “examine potential oversight procedures.” This group would be tasked to devise a system for the government to “approve” the most advanced models before they could launch. The plausibility of the risks associated with the most advanced AI models is unclear, but government control or burdensome regulation of the technology would bring significant risks to innovation and speech. Such an approach would open the door to a level of government control that could lead to regulatory capture, restrictions on expression, and the overall weaponization of government power to punish politically disfavored companies. Requiring pre-launch approval was criticized as heavy-handed and anticompetitive when included in the Biden administration’s executive order on AI. If the Trump administration does carry through with such a requirement, it will raise similar concerns and represent a dramatic departure from the light-touch approach the administration has favored on this emerging technology.