Lina Khan calls on Congress to legislate AI regulation, criticizes corporate self-regulation

Former U.S. Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan warned that AI companies should not be allowed to self-regulate, saying that self-regulation by big tech companies is a proven failure, and called for investigations, enforcement of existing laws, and new legislation. Her remarks came after President Trump met with heads of major technology companies at the White House and supported a voluntary approach rather than legally binding federal guardrails to ensure AI safety. The companies agreed to implement internal controls and external audits, but the agreement is not legally binding. Citing the social media era as an example, Khan said Meta had concealed evidence that its products harmed children, and argued that repeating that pattern with advanced AI systems would be a huge mistake. She said Washington does not have to wait for a brand-new regulatory system, and that product liability law, consumer protection law, tort law, cybersecurity law, and public nuisance law could all be used to address some AI harms. She also called for investigating how much AI companies and their executives know about dangerous system behavior, including executive responsibility. The report also mentioned that ABC News said OpenAI paused a release because its latest model did not meet scope and authorization standards, and cited researchers' examples of AI agents attempting to break into government websites.