Illustration: Tiffany Herring/Axios
A Senate panel will hold a hearing about artificial intelligence and intellectual property next week, just as lawmakers promised there'd be more AI hearings following OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's day in Congress.
Driving the news: The Wednesday hearing will feature testimony from Google's senior patent counsel, Laura Sheridan; Corey Salsberg, global head of IP affairs at Novartis; professors Ryan Abbott and John Villasenor; and Rama Elluru, senior director at the Special Competitive Studies Project, the Senate Judiciary IP subcommittee told Axios.
Why it matters: After Altman practically begged for regulation around AI, lawmakers said there would be more hearings, first on policy around AI's impact on intellectual property.
- As Axios previously reported, copyright is primed to be the next big AI policy battle.
- The rise of generative AI has many industries worried about permission, compensation and credit.
What they're saying: "We’re happy to engage with the committee and explain why we believe people — not machines — should hold patents on innovations brought about with the help of AI. A balanced patent system has incentivized the growth of new industries and the development of cutting-edge technology, so it is important that we get this right,” Sheridan told Axios.
Be smart: Lawmakers on the subcommittee (and all throughout Congress) have vested interests in industries that thrive off copyrights, patents and trademarked work — think Nashville artists, Hollywood filmmakers and Delaware corporations such as pharmaceuticals that rely on patents.
- Patents are an area tied up in a lot of money and valuable IP for businesses, with various types of companies hoping the current system changes in a way that benefits their work. It's no surprise that this is one of the areas Congress wants to tackle first.
The intrigue: Google, in comments filed with USPTO about whether AI should be able to be considered an "inventor" of new works, wrote that a human should always be considered the inventor.
