House Subcommittee Raises AI Risks to Security, Privacy

Lawmakers on a House subcommittee expressed profound concerns about artificial intelligence during a roundtable discussion Thursday, highlighting risks to national security, privacy, military operations and the environment amid the technology's rapid evolution.

The session, titled "Artificial Intelligence and American Power" and convened by the House Oversight Committee's subcommittee, gathered executives from AI firms, academics and industry leaders with members of Congress. As discussions unfolded in Washington, D.C., participants shifted from AI's potential benefits to existential threats, even as the broader Congress addressed issues including federal surveillance powers, the war with Iran and funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

Rep. James Walkinshaw, a Democrat from Virginia, voiced alarm over federal employees potentially using AI chatbots to process sensitive government data. Rep. William Timmons, a Republican from South Carolina, questioned whether laws should prohibit AI from generating pornographic content using individuals' likenesses without consent. Rep. John McGuire, a Republican from Virginia, raised fears that AI could interfere with military...