Rep. Obernolte Pushes for AI Legislation and Research
Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., is optimistic that Congress can pass substantive AI legislation, intending to reintroduce the CREATE AI Act. Obernolte, who co-chaired the now-defunct House AI Task Force, made these remarks during a Washington Post Live event on Wednesday. The Congressman, the only current member of Congress with a graduate degree focused on AI, highlighted several critical initiatives from the task force’s report, which he hopes will be addressed by the current Congress.
The CREATE AI Act, specifically, would permanently establish the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) National AI Research Resource (NAIRR) pilot, which launched in January 2024. The NAIRR aims to be a shared infrastructure for the AI research community, enabling responsible AI use.
“I’ve been very vocal about my belief that we need to pass the CREATE AI Act,” Obernolte stated. “I am reintroducing that legislation here shortly to establish the National AI Research Resource to make sure that cutting-edge AI research continues to be done in academic settings as well as commercial settings.”
Obernolte underscored the financial challenges facing academic institutions in the wake of accelerating AI research and development. He said, “We’re getting to the point where it’s so expensive to do cutting-edge research that academic institutions [may] not be able to do it anymore, which would give up all of the benefits that go along with academic research… So, we’re hoping to get that across the finish line this year.”
Task Force Report and Legislative Goals
During the last Congress , Obernolte helped lead the bipartisan House AI Task Force, which produced a 273-page report outlining a federal regulatory framework for AI. The report contained over 60 major findings and over 80 recommendations, intended, according to Obernolte, as a “checklist for future Congresses” – starting with the current 119th Congress. “We are hopeful that this Congress will start following that list and checking off those different tasks,” he said, noting that the CREATE AI Act is among the “low-hanging fruit.”
Another key goal, he cited, is restricting the use of AI to generate nonconsensual imagery. Obernolte addressed the matter of “deepfake” applications, which are used by some to improperly generate intimate images of others. He emphasized the devastating effects on teens.
“You probably couldn’t come up with a high school that hasn’t had an instance of a student using AI to superimpose another student’s face on a pornographic body, which…has devastating consequences for kids at that age,” he stated. “That’s something we should all be able to agree is not okay…I think that that we should be able to get that across the finish line in the near future.”
Obernolte believes the 119th Congress can pass meaningful AI legislation, despite running into time constraints during the previous session.
“I’m really optimistic, actually, about our ability to pass legislation and establish Congress as an entity that’s capable of doing what needs to be done in this space,” he said. “I’m very encouraged, and I think everyone ought to be, by the fact that our task force was broadly bipartisan, equally split between Democrats and Republicans, and we unanimously approved the task force report.”
From a legislative perspective, Obernolte suggests that Congress should address AI regulations “as a lot of little, bite-sized pieces” instead of broad, complex legislation. He also noted his support for the work of the White House’s forthcoming AI action plan.
Grace Dille
