Thune Signals Congress May Move On AI Guardrails

According to Axios, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Congress has a role in AI oversight and that “guardrails” make sense for frontier models, while also backing a “light touch” approach that would not stifle innovation. Thune said he sees “potential consequential risks” from AI but added that people often create worst-case scenarios, and he left open the possibility of Senate action on a House bill aimed at ensuring communities do not pay more for data centers’ power use. He said he spoke with Sen. Amy Klobuchar on Saturday night about their AI bill, which would require companies building frontier AI models to guard against catastrophic risks and submit to federal oversight, and said he has been working with Commerce Chair Ted Cruz to reintroduce it “hopefully soon.” House GOP leaders have not indicated they plan to keep the chamber in session after this week for AI legislation, while Speaker Mike Johnson said Congress may need to act but that corporate responsibility is also important.