Today, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries announced the establishment of a bipartisan Task Force on Artificial Intelligence. The task force will be co-chairs by Jay Obernolte (R-CA) and Ted Lieu (D-CA) and will have 24 members drawn equally from both sides of the aisle. The group will explore how to, “ensure America continues to lead the world in AI innovation while considering guardrails that may be appropriate to safeguard the nation against current and emerging threats,” and, “will seek to produce a comprehensive report that will include guiding principles, forward-looking recommendations and bipartisan policy proposals.”

This is a welcome development. While the Senate has a long-established effort looking at AI, the House has been less organized, with seemingly every committee looking at the subject in their jurisdiction. This unified effort will allow the House to approach the legislative topic of AI in a more comprehensive way and will help Representatives become better acquainted with the subject. In a positive sign, several members of the Task Force, including Co-Chair Obernolte, are members of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, which has been examining the development of AI within the nation’s research ecosystem for several years now (and just had a hearing on the subject). This should mean that the research community will be well listened to as the group develops their report and recommendations. CRA looks forward to working with the Task Force and will emphasis the importance of research in any national strategy around AI.