The future of AI regulation attracts the strangest and most anxious companions

Hello and welcome organizerNewsletter for edge Subscribers on technology politics, technology impact, and technology hoaxes in Washington, DC. (If you are not a subscriber, You can get on board here.) We’re back after a two-week hiatus, most of which I was wandering around Holland for a family wedding, and a trip to the Heineken Experience, which is truly an amazing experience. ~Experience~.

Before I left, I asked everyone in Washington to calm down while I was gone. Obviously this did not happen, and I returned to what can best be described as a political landscape Mimi from community Where the room is on fire. Let’s get into it.

If you want to get a good idea of ​​how Washington insiders view their release Wonderful humanity, Pope Leo XIVThe brochure exposing Catholic doctrine on artificial intelligence, let me take you inside an actual room of insiders in Washington.

This is the scene: last week’s black-tie gala at the Waldorf Astoria, formerly Trump’s hotel, thrown by the Washington AI Network. Spotted among the dancers dressed like robots on stilts in attendance: AI lobbyists, AI safety nonprofits, tech industry representatives, technology journalists, Shark tank‘s Kevin O’Leary, Senior Administrative Officer – Director of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Mehmet OzUndersecretary of the Ministry of Energy Dario Gil – And I. nuncio Bishop Gabriel Cacciathe Vatican’s top diplomat to the United States, is also there, making a surprise debut to deliver remarks to those gathered, who expected to celebrate leading players in the field of artificial intelligence. (Yes, Kevin O’Leary was accepting an award. It was a full-scale celebration.)

The nuncio is trying to convey the Pope’s message about protecting human beings and the human condition before innovation and profit. But I can barely hear him. The salad is finished, and Caccia is drowned out by the sound of cutlery on plates and people muttering to their table mates, because this is essential communication time.

Even if the general public is excited Wonderful humanityThe Pope does not have the force of law, nor can he impose burdensome regulations, so the Pope is not of immediate interest to Washington. Despite all the dinner talk, the AI ​​industry seems to be experiencing some tunnel vision. In general, corporate lobbyists try to befriend everyone, Democrats and Republicans alike, and cultivate those relationships for as many years as possible without angering either side. But this is not a possibility Donald TrumpIn Washington, where supporting Democrats in the past could have been seen as treason, even for the tech minority. (Billionaire and commercial astronaut Jared IsaacmanFor example, NASA’s nomination for NASA Administrator was: Iced for months After Trump learned that he once donated to a Democrat.)

On the other hand, if they give him money and make him look good, he’s Trump He can He is content to give these oligarchs all the regulatory demands they want and force Republicans to do what he says. But even this control is fragile. Here is a very brief summary of Trump’s latest executive order focusing on artificial intelligence:

But although Washington can be chaotic and unpredictable, especially when Trump is president, there are two fixed points in time that everyone can plan for: Once every two years, a federal election will be held in November, and the winners of those races will be sworn in to Congress the following January. There will inevitably be some change in the balance of power. But no one can safely predict from It will have that power or what it will look like, leading to an endless series of unknowns for tech companies: What would happen if Republicans lost the House of Representatives? What happens if they lose the majority in the House of Representatives by one, 10, or 20 members? So what does this scenario look like except in the Senate? Which Democrats will control which committees? what if Alex Burris Being elected? What if a Trump loyalist fires a Republican ally of ours? What happens if a friendly Democrat gets fired by a progressive over something we have no control over, like their support for Israel? And so on.

But the tech industry’s vested interests may be a major issue in the upcoming midterm elections. It is easy for voters to understand the consequences of having famous, instantly recognizable CEOs of big tech companies stand behind Trump during the inauguration, or a golden statue from… Tim Cook A change in the expected price of an iPhone, or a check from a tech giant that funds a flashy dance floor (of all things). This cycle, it’s easier for voters to draw a straight line from those visible moments to the growing and often unwanted presence of AI in every aspect of their daily lives. These voters complain to their representatives, those representatives respond, and if they don’t, the voters kick them out of office in November.

Related light reading recommendation: One source I would rely on the most during this period was the journalist Molly Whitehis new project, Monitor technological impactwhich tracks all of the AI ​​industry’s political spending in the upcoming midterm elections. White started the project as a way to track cryptocurrency spending in the 2024 election, however In the latest announcement of its expansionHe noted that cryptocurrency politics and AI are closely linked — so closely linked, in fact, that the donors and strategists leading the super PACs on AI were exactly the same people. “Political action committees may look different from the outside, but they are increasingly the same operation with aligned goals: deregulating the tech sector, rolling back consumer protections, and allowing tech companies to extract massive profits at the expense of ordinary people.”