WASHINGTON. D.C. – U.S. Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) has joined Sen. Chuck Grassley (D-IA) to introduce bipartisan legislation into the 119th Congress to protect whistleblowers from the artificial intelligence industry.
Their proposal – dubbed the AI Whistleblowers Protection Act — would safeguard employees of AI companies who courageously come forward to report legal violations, security failures or risks to public safety from the threat of legal or workplace retaliation, according to Curtis.
AI has enormous potential,” the junior Utah senator explains. “It’s critical that the United States continue to lead the world in its development. But innovation and accountability have to go hand in hand.
“The people working directly with these systems are often the first to recognize when something has gone wrong,” Curtis adds. “They should be able to report serious legal, security or public safety concerns without risking their careers or being silenced by a non-disclosure agreement.”
Concerns about the AI industry on Capitol Hill have been feuled in recent weeks by the example of Jacob Coxon, an artificial intelligence researcher, who recently resigned form the AI firm Anthropic.
Coxon has called for a slowdown on AI development, claiming that people working on the technology are genuinely frightened about the speed of its advancement and what that could mean for humanity.
Curtis’ staff members in the Senate report that as increasingly powerful AI systems are developed and deployed, employees working directly on the technology may be among the first to identify security vulnerabilities, legal violations or other risks that could threaten the public.
Existing employment agreements — including nondisclosure agreements — can discourage workers from bringing those concerns forward.
Congress has established whistleblower protections and Department of Labor enforcement processes across a range of industries, including transportation, food safety, corporate fraud and tax law.
The AI Whistleblower Protection Act proposed by Curtis and Grassley would build on that existing framework rather than establishing a new federal regulatory regime.
The AI market in the United States is projected to reach a staggering $1.3 trillion by 2030, representing substantial growth from a mere $214 billion in revenue in 2024, according to analysts at Forbes Magazine.
As AI continues to revolutionize various industries, its annual growth rate is projected to reach 36.6 percent by 2030. Nearly three out of four businesses have started using AI for at least one business function.
A substantial 77 percent of people in the U.S. have expressed apprehension that AI could bring about job losses in the imminent future and their concern may be justified.
As AI evolves, it could displace 400 million workers worldwide. A recent report from McKinsey & Company of Hong Kong predicts that AI-related advancements may affect around 15 percent of the global workforce by 2030.
Curtis has consistently worked to establish targeted, commonsense safeguards for emerging technologies while preserving American leadership in artificial intelligence.
His recent efforts include the bipartisan AI Labeling Act (which would establish transparency requirements for AI-generated content) and the Safe Kids Act (which would establish safeguards to protect children interacting with AI chatbots).
Many of the safeguards proposed by the Safe Kids Act were incorporated in the CHATBOT Act, which recently passed the Senate Commerce Committee.
The AI Whistleblower Protection Act is being supported Senators Chris Coons (D-DE), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Josh Hawley (R-MO), and Brian Schatz (D-HI).