POLITICO: AI labs in progressives’ sights if Democrats win House

Progressive Democrats are sending a message to artificial intelligence companies: If their party wins the House next week, they will push for aggressive scrutiny of AI labs.

Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, told POLITICO that Democrats in the majority “should be hauling in the CEOs of the large AI companies and grilling them about the risks that they are imposing to the American people.” He said he was open to using subpoenas to compel executives’ appearance.

The two-term Austin lawmaker said he has made his case to Democratic leadership that oversight and hearings probing AI companies should be one of the caucus’ focuses in a Democratic-controlled House.

“While progressives might be the tip of the spear,” he said, “we are certainly not going to be alone in calling these Big Tech firms to account.”

Casar’s comments come as the Democratic Party’s left flank jockeys for influence and seeks to influence the party’s post-midterm agenda. The CPC gathered incumbent and incoming members in Washington last month to discuss how they could use their leverage to advance their priorities.

On Thursday, Casar and 19 other Democrats sent a letter to OpenAI, pressing the company about the firing of three safety researchers. The letter, first shared with POLITICO, previews the scrutiny AI companies could face if Democrats retake the House on Tuesday and gain broad investigative powers.

The letter says the three researchers were accused of leaking sensitive company information to an outside researcher. The employees have disputed OpenAI’s account.

“These personnel decisions were not about raising safety concerns or speaking out,” an OpenAI spokesperson said. “We actively encourage debate about safety and research and consider these discussions essential to making the right decisions. We remain committed to engaging constructively with Congress and relevant committees on AI safety.”

Casar has previously demanded that AI companies testify before Congress. After tech companies disclosed a string of cyberattacks, he called for the executives of the top AI labs to come before Congress and asked for information about the incidents. He later called their responses insufficient.

A spokesperson for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The letter said the firings “raise concerns about how whistleblowers are treated inside OpenAI and how much OpenAI employees can engage with external parties, including when those external parties are conducting independent investigations of the company’s practices,” the lawmakers wrote."

The Democrats asked OpenAI to commit to not firing whistleblowers and to maintain the company’s current pause on the its most advanced models until “independent third-party oversight is in place.” They asked additional questions about the firings, model development and security incidents in place.

They requested a response by Nov. 12.