Hickenlooper on Jan. 18. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Sen. John Hickenlooper plans to introduce a bill providing for third-party AI audits when the Senate returns from recess, per an announcement shared exclusively with Axios.
The big picture: The Validation and Evaluation for Trustworthy (VET) AI Act directs NIST to work with agencies and outside groups to develop guidelines to certify and evaluate AI companies' systems.
- "AI is moving faster than any of us thought it would two years ago," Hickenlooper said in a statement. "But we have to move just as fast to get sensible guardrails in place to develop AI responsibly before it's too late. Otherwise, AI could bring more harm than good to our lives."
What's inside: The bill aims to make companies go beyond their own claims for how well their AI systems work and how safe they are, creating a third-party system to verify development and testing against voluntary guardrails determined by NIST, in coordination with the Department of Energy and NSF.
- Hickenlooper's office said they are working on adding co-sponsors.
Our thought bubble: A bill that directs NIST to make guidelines, establish criteria and develop a third-party auditing system for AI isn't an expensive lift, but puts further strain on an already-strapped agency.
- However, it's likely to appeal to Republicans given its fairly light-touch approach to auditing and testing.
