Musk Warns Senators About AI Threat, While Gates Says the Technology Could Target World Hunger
Tech leaders debate perils and possibilities of artificial intelligence at closed-door Senate session
WASHINGTON—Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and other technology heavyweights debated the possibilities and risks of artificial intelligence Wednesday in a closed-door meeting with more than 60 U.S. Senators who are contemplating legislation to regulate the technology.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and owner of X (formerly Twitter), warned about what he views as AI’s potential to threaten humanity, according to a participant. Microsoft MSFT 1.29%increase; green up pointing triangle co-founder Gates said the technology could help address world hunger, said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), who convened the session.
Other speakers included Facebook founder Zuckerberg and the CEOs of Google, Microsoft, Nvidia NVDA 1.37%increase; green up pointing triangle and IBM IBM 0.16%increase; green up pointing triangle, along with union leaders.
Schumer at one point asked the guests if they agreed that the government needed to play a role in regulating artificial intelligence. Everyone present raised their hands, Schumer said during a break in the daylong session.
Despite that consensus—and Schumer’s vow to move toward passing legislation within months—the meeting also laid bare some of the tension points ahead.
One debate centered on the practice of making certain AI programs “open source,” or available for the public to download and modify. Some in the room raised concerns about the practice, which has the potential to put powerful AI systems in the hands of bad actors, according to one participant.
But Zuckerberg, whose company Meta Platforms has released powerful open source models, defended the practice. He told Senators in his opening statement that open source “democratizes access to these tools, and that helps level the playing field and foster innovation for people and businesses,” according to excerpts released by the company.
Another point of tension related to workers who see AI as a potential threat to their jobs. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D., Wash.) recounted a moment where the head of the Writers Guild of America West, Meredith Stiehm, described the views of members who are on strike seeking a new contract with Hollywood studios in part to address those fears.
Also in the room: The head of the Hollywood trade group Motion Picture Association.
“That was, like, two sides right there,” Cantwell said. “Lots of different viewpoints.”
The closed-door nature of the session drew criticism from some quarters. Sen. Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) questioned whether the meeting was designed “to prevent senators from asking tough questions the CEOs don’t want to answer,” and called on Schumer to bring AI legislation up for a vote.
“This is a lot of song and dance that covers the fact that actually nothing is advancing,” Hawley told reporters Wednesday.
Schumer, who organized the meeting with a bipartisan group of three other senators, said the format was designed to allow a frank debate.
“They talked at each other unvarnished,” he said. “Everyone learned from everybody else.”
The tech leaders arrived just before 10 a.m. on Wednesday, stepping out of tinted SUVs and strolling past a phalanx of cameras—with the exception of Musk, who arrived in a jet black Tesla sedan. They gathered around a table with name cards inside the marbled Kennedy Caucus Room.
Most of the tech leaders avoided the cameras stationed outside. Musk told reporters as he departed that he didn’t believe Congress was ready to regulate AI, while adding that it also made sense for them to study the issue before writing legislation.
“I saw very little disagreement actually,” he said of the meeting in a video posted by CBS News.
Schumer described Wednesday’s meeting as the first in a series designed to develop legislation addressing rapid adoption of powerful artificial intelligence tools.
Lawmakers are far from consensus on what that legislation will say, but Schumer’s involvement gives the effort more justice than Congress’ previous tech-regulation efforts, many of which the majority leader never called up for a vote on the Senate floor.
One open question is what areas the legislation will cover. Issues previously raised by participants in Wednesday’s meeting cover a wide range of potential concerns involving esoteric areas of law. Among them: Copyright violations, privacy invasions, racial discrimination, economic ties with China, and the use of AI by the government for military or other purposes.
“You want to be able to maximize the benefits and minimize the harms,” Schumer said. “That will be our difficult job.”