(KRON) -- Congress members wrote to five leading frontier artificial intelligence companies Wednesday requesting that the tech giants report to Congress about AI model misalignment incidents within 48 hours of detection. The letters follow a rise in AI models going rogue, or taking unintended and potentially unsafe actions, during testing.
The letters were signed by Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, (D-NJ); Science, Space, and Technology Committee Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA); and Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD).
The Democratic Committee leaders sent oversight letters to the following companies:
"In the absence of any mandatory reporting requirements or common guidelines regarding what incidents should be reported, to whom, in what detail, and at what intervals, companies such as yours have been left to develop your own de facto standards on a voluntary basis," Pallone, Lofgren, and Raskin wrote.
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The congress members' committees have jurisdiction over the development and deployment of AI.
The letters continued, "The Trump Administration has been content to rely on voluntary disclosures and self-regulation by the AI industry. But that approach will not suffice; it relies too heavily on the consistent goodwill of all AI companies to voluntarily disclose incidents that might expose them to liability and reputational damage. While there is no question now that Congress must act to address gaps in AI governance, we must have the best information available to undertake that complicated process in a thoughtful and productive way."
Sam Altman, center, attends the AI Action Summit in Paris, France, on Feb. 11, 2025. (Nathan Laine/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Pallone, Lofgren, and Raskin asked each AI tech company to provide a full accounting of incidents by November 11, 2026. The Democrats also requested the companies notify the committees within 48 hours of discovering any new or previously unknown incidents; and requested notification within 24 hours if critical infrastructure appears to be involved.
In September, Anthropic CEO Amodei acknowledged dangers of AI development progressing too fast and highlighted risks of recklessness, including losing control of AI systems, economic disruption, and the misuse of the technology for cyberattacks.
In an essay Amodei wrote, "Like many technologies before it, AI brings risks, and because it is such a powerful technology, these risks are serious. A race to the bottom, spurred by commercial incentives, can make these risks more acute. We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models."
