Mark Harris Applauds Trump’s Executive Order Aimed At Making The U.S. The ‘Global Leader In AI’

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During a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, Rep. Mark Harris (R-NC) spoke about President Trump’s executive order entitled, “Removing Barriers To American Leadership In Artificial Intelligence.”

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Transcript

00:00I now recognize the gentleman from North Carolina, Mr. Harris, for five minutes.

00:06Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thanks to all of you on the panel for being a part of this

00:10hearing today.

00:11On January 23, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order titled Removing Barriers

00:17to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence, aimed at solidifying the United States' position

00:24as the global leader in AI.

00:26I, for one, applaud the Trump administration's leadership on this issue.

00:30Mr. Chilson, would you just take a moment and explain how this executive order will

00:36indeed help solidify our position as the global leader in AI, as the EO states?

00:43Well, it's a sea change from the Biden executive order, which was the third longest executive

00:49order in history, and basically set a government-wide call for agencies to figure out how to regulate

00:57AI.

00:59This Trump executive order is the opposite.

01:03It's focused on figuring out how can we create the opportunities, or how can we maximize

01:08the opportunities from this amazing technology, which is grown here in America.

01:14And so some of its mechanisms, you know, it directs the Office of Science and Technology

01:20Planning to create an AI action plan.

01:22Those comments have gone in to that agency, and I think they're going to come out with

01:27a comprehensive approach.

01:29But the main thing here is the total change in perspective.

01:32It's one from fear and risk that this technology is going to hurt people to recognizing that

01:38it has huge opportunities, not just for consumers, not just for everyday things that they use,

01:46but also, I think, in creating a lot of competition in the AI industry, but also across the economy

01:53as a whole.

01:55You referenced the science and technology policy.

01:58I know Section 4 of Trump's executive order requires various executive agencies to coordinate

02:04on the creation of an action plan to submit to the president in 180 days.

02:09And the action plan should lay out how we can achieve AI dominance.

02:14So you and your colleague, Mr. Chilson, I understand that the Abundance Institute submitted

02:19recommendations to the Office of Science and Technology Policy on what should be included

02:25in that action plan.

02:26Could you take just a moment and summarize what your recommendations might be?

02:31Right.

02:32So, at the very top, I think you've heard this concern repeatedly across this hearing,

02:40is stemming the tide, the flowing tide of state AI regulations.

02:44What we have right now is a set of regulatory schemes that regulate from the very top, the

02:52most abstract level of AI, these general purpose models.

02:56It's a general purpose technology that can be used in millions of different ways.

03:00And states are trying to say that these companies have to make sure that that model can never

03:04be used in a way that might hurt somebody.

03:07And that's the type of regulation that is not only impossible to comply with, it doesn't

03:13– it will be impossible to enforce as well.

03:15And so I think that Congress needs to look at this – look at – or the White House

03:20needs to look at different ways to stem this tide, whether through the bully pulpit or

03:24proposing legislation to Congress that will help stem that flow.

03:29I think it's a big challenge, and Congress and the White House need to step up to that.

03:35Well, let me ask you this.

03:36Can Congress play a role in helping the United States achieve the goals that have been set

03:41forth in the executive order?

03:43Absolutely.

03:44I think it will be essential that Congress does so.

03:46Okay.

03:47And are there any legislative efforts that will bring us towards the vision set forth

03:51by the Trump administration?

03:53Well, I think there's a lot of different models we could take.

03:56One state action that has been very useful – Utah has an AI act that creates a AI learning

04:02laboratory where people can come in, get regulatory mitigation when they don't understand fully

04:08what the risks are because their technology is new, and both the legislators and the company

04:14can learn together.

04:15So the most recent example of this was a technology that creates – it's an AI mental wellness

04:24app for teenagers, a really important problem.

04:28You can understand the sensitivity there.

04:30They worked with this regulatory sandbox to create not only just the app itself, but also

04:38there's been legislation that was proposed to Utah to the legislature that governed some

04:44of those types of apps.

04:45And so it's a cooperative thing.

04:47I think it's the kind of structure that might work very well at the federal level as well.

04:51Very good.

Mark Harris Applauds Trump’s Executive Order Aimed At Making The U.S. The ‘Global Leader In AI’

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