This is a doozy at 269 pages and touches on a hell of a lot more than just the preempting language on state laws with AI that people are latching on to and talking about. To be frank, I have not seen or heard a lot about this since I have a hearing next week with Secretary of Energy Chris Wright testifying. That being said this is going to be a heavy lift to get out of Committee. Even with Obernolte being the Research and Technology Subcommittee Chairman on SST, that doesn't give him the ability to ram stuff through us. He/his office has not been great in dealing with AI legislation over the last few months and has operated on the "if I can't have everything I want, I will take my stuff and go home " principle.

As you would expect, we have not been too happy with this and his disregard for keeping us in the loop. While this will be something referred to multiple Committee's I would expect to see SST play a key role or even a leading role. Last Congress, when we had the Bipartisan AI Taskforce, I realized how much he wants to solely control and dictate everything and thats not how this process works.

This could be a huge ploy that works, and something is done, but I expect it to be like other bold ideas that blow up within days of being released. Committee Staff serve a role in either A) being experts in an area or B) serving as the link between Congress and Agencies. Rep. Obernolte has not yet learned to trust or listen to Committee staff when we get technical assistance on legislation from agencies and stakeholders. Will this serve as a jump-start for AI legislation? I have no clue, but I can see about a million things that could go wrong based on his terrible rollout and usage of expertise.