Facing a growing backlash over the boom in data center construction and widespread concern over the safety of artificial intelligence, Congress is set to depart Washington this week ahead of the midterm elections having accomplished nothing to address either issue.<\/p>\n
Eager to show they hear the public alarm over A.I. as they fight to keep their majority, Republicans in the Senate on Wednesday attempted to bring up a bill intended to insulate Americans from rising electricity costs tied to data centers. But Democrats blocked it, noting that the legislation was not enforceable and arguing it would do little to significantly curb energy prices.<\/p>\n
The bill, sponsored by Senator Jon Husted of Ohio, a Republican in a difficult re-election battle, also would not impose any regulation on the use or deployment of artificial intelligence in the wake of several revelations that A.I. agents evaded safeguards meant to constrain them<\/a>.<\/p>\n With widespread disagreement over the best path forward but lawmakers eager to show voters progress on the issue before facing them in November, members of both parties have in recent days released a barrage of legislation, letters and statements of concern about A.I. and held a Senate hearing on \u201cRogue A.I.\u201d on Wednesday afternoon as they rushed for the exits.<\/p>\n \u201cI remain an A.I. optimist. I am not an A.I. doomer,\u201d Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat who is also up for re-election, said. \u201cBut we are at a moment in time, particularly over the last few weeks, where I think the whole world has recognized we\u2019ve got to do something.\u201d<\/p>\n It comes as President Trump has played down A.I. safety risks and lawmakers in both parties remain uncertain about how to proceed on the issue as major players in the industry are spending heavily to influence the midterms<\/a>. Though Mr. Trump convened top technology executives at the White House on Tuesday, the group agreed only to voluntary safety agreements<\/a> and to follow the president\u2019s preference in rebranding A.I. as \u201csuper intelligence.\u201d<\/p>\n Some Republican senators have argued there is a need for stronger oversight. Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, who has sponsored several pieces of legislation that would limit A.I., convened Wednesday\u2019s hearing and said that companies should be subject to consequences when their technology is misused.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s time to talk about what we\u2019re going to do to hold the companies, the product makers accountable, rather than all of this talk about the end of the world,\u201d Mr. Hawley said. None of the executives who joined the White House meeting attended; Mr. Hawley said that Sam Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI, had declined his invitation to participate.<\/p>\n Still, Republicans also are facing blowback for having included tax breaks in their major tax and spending cut legislation last year that benefited data center developers. Mr. Hawley has introduced legislation that would bar data centers from taking advantage of the incentives<\/a>.<\/p>\n It is unclear whether Congress\u2019s lack of action on the issue will have political consequences in November. A poll conducted this month by The New York Times and Siena University found that neither party had a clear advantage<\/a> with voters on A.I., even as voters broadly opposed the construction of data centers.<\/p>\n Still, Democrats have sought to make data centers a central issue in competitive races across the country, including Mr. Husted\u2019s in Ohio.<\/p>\n Before he was appointed to the Senate last year, Mr. Husted, the state\u2019s lieutenant governor, backed tax incentives for data centers. Democrats have spent millions on television advertisements labeling him as the \u201cface of data centers.\u201d In August, Senate Republicans\u2019 campaign arm distributed a memo warning that the issue was threatening Mr. Husted\u2019s re-election bid.<\/p>\n Wednesday\u2019s vote was seen as a potential boon for his campaign.<\/p>\n