Axios Live: Massachusetts lawmaker says AI growth and guardrails can coexist

BOSTON — AI regulation should be a federal priority but states should step in to implement safeguards while supporting innovation, state Sen. Barry Finegold said.

Why it matters: With no formal federal framework for AI safeguards, policymakers and tech leaders are left to debate how AI is regulated, and who has a say.

Axios' Dan Primack and Steph Solis spoke with Bain Capital Ventures partner Ajay Agarwal, Recorded Future CEO Colin Mahony and Finegold. The Sept. 29 event was sponsored by Anthropic.

What they're saying: Finegold said states should not be pursuing AI legislation, "but the federal government is not doing anything, so states like ours … are stepping forward and we will continue to step forward until there's a federal law in place."

• Finegold said provisions in the Massachusetts Senate economic development bill would implement independent audits and safety checks of AI development, citing public prompting of some leading AI companies to put more unified safeguards in place.

• "We can have a robust AI economy and have adequate guardrails. We can do both," Finegold said.
• Mahony, whose cybersecurity company is headquartered in Boston, said the current AI landscape gives an advantage to "attackers," but added that "defenders" are also using the technology effectively.
• "There really are some incredible things that the broad defender community is doing with AI," he said.
• Mahony said AI-driven security incidents have sparked a wider AI safety debate: "When Mom starts asking questions about frontier models, you realize that there's something else going on."

What's next: Agarwal said Boston continues to lead in biotech and life sciences innovation but has work to do to compete with the growing robotics industry in Silicon Valley. He also pointed to current advancements in AI as progressing past previous frontier technologies.

• "The kind of things we're seeing in education, in health care, in physical AI and robotics, I think are truly more transformative than just another form of software that's being sold," Agarwal said.

Content from the sponsor's segment:

During a View From the Top conversation, Brian Peters, Anthropic's head of North America government affairs, explained the company's endorsement of the Massachusetts Senate's proposed AI regulations.

• "AI companies should not be grading their own homework," Peters said. "When an AI company says its technology is safe, there needs to be an independent evaluator to verify that that's true and the government needs to have the power to step in and do something about it."

Go deeper: Watch the full event.