Sen. Josh Hawley Slams Closed-Door AI Meeting with Tech CEOs in Washington

In a closed-door meeting that has sparked controversy and drawn the ire of Republican Senator Josh Hawley, prominent tech CEOs gathered in the nation’s capital to discuss artificial intelligence (AI) safeguards with federal lawmakers. The meeting, initiated by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, has raised questions about transparency and the influence of tech giants on AI regulation.

Top tech leaders including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, among others, converged on Capitol Hill on Wednesday for the private forum. The focus of the meeting was the development of regulatory frameworks for AI, given the growing concerns about the potential risks posed by unregulated AI technology.

However, Senator Hawley, a vocal critic of big-tech companies, expressed his displeasure with the closed-door nature of the gathering. In an interview with Fox News Digital, he insisted that the meeting should have been open to the public.

“If Schumer is going to invite all of the nation’s biggest tech CEOs here to the Capitol, this ought to be open to the public,” Hawley asserted. He raised concerns about the past actions of tech companies, accusing them of interfering in elections, suppressing information, and censoring conservative voices on social media.

“These are the people who have tried to rig elections in the past. These are people who suppressed reporting on the Hunter Biden laptop. These are the people who kick conservatives off social media. Now they’re all behind closed doors,” Hawley emphasized.

The senator’s concerns reflect a broader unease among lawmakers about the unchecked power of tech companies, especially when it comes to AI. Advanced AI technology, exemplified by OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot, has raised questions about its potential for creating fake images, voice recordings, manipulating search results, and even interfering with critical infrastructure.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, acknowledged the gravity of the situation, stating, “This is an important, urgent, and in some ways unprecedented moment.”

Senator Schumer, however, defended the closed-door meeting, emphasizing the need for a bipartisan regulatory scheme informed by the tech industry to address the risks associated with AI.

“Today, we begin an enormous and complex and vital undertaking: building a foundation for bipartisan AI policy that Congress can pass,” Schumer stated in his opening remarks at the meeting.

The meeting also featured prominent figures from the tech industry and the political sphere, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, AFL-CIO Labor Federation President Liz Shuler, and Senators Mike Rounds, Martin Heinrich, and Todd Young.

The discussions on AI come as Congress is holding three separate hearings on the topic. Microsoft President Brad Smith urged lawmakers to “require safety brakes for AI that controls or manages critical infrastructure” during a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing earlier this week.

Senator Hawley’s discontent with the meeting reflects ongoing concerns among conservatives that tech companies are biased against right-leaning viewpoints and may use AI to further their agenda. He expressed particular worry that AI could be utilized to censor Americans online and interfere in elections.

As the debate over AI regulation intensifies on Capitol Hill, the closed-door meeting with tech CEOs serves as a focal point for the broader conversation about the role of government and tech giants in shaping the future of artificial intelligence.