Transcript: House Hearing on Safeguarding Data and Innovation

Gabby Miller is Staff Writer for Tech Policy Press. US House hearing on “Safeguarding Data and Innovation: Setting the Foundation for the Use of AI,” October 18, 2023, Washington DC. Source Last week, on Oct. 18, 2023, the US House Energy and Commerce Committee kicked off its artificial intelligence series with a hearing titled “Safeguarding Data and Innovation: Setting the Foundation for the use of Artificial Intelligence.” Led by Committee Chair Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and the Innovation, Data, and Commerce Subcommittee Chair Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), the series’ stated goal is to create a national privacy standard. It’s also meant to “explore the role of Artificial Intelligence across every sector of the economy, including healthcare, telecommunications, emerging technologies, and energy,” according to a press release.  In their opening statements, both Representatives Rodgers and Bilirakis emphasized the need for data privacy protections for the Americans whose data powers new AI tools–an issue the House Energy and Commerce Committee took up last year as well when it passed the American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA) almost unanimously out of Committee. “In fact, our legislation was touted as having the strongest online protections for children to date, and overall would provide stronger protections than any state law,” said Rep. Bilirakis in his opening remarks. For the purpose of this hearing, the co-chair said he hoped to hear from witnesses about the role that data privacy law can play to set the US up for success as a global leader in…Transcript: House Hearing on Safeguarding Data and Innovation