OpenAI throws its weight behind FRONTIER Act AI regulation bill

Lobbyists for OpenAI are backing regulatory provisions of a bipartisan bill that gives a framework pathway forward for the regulation of frontier artificial intelligence development.OpenAI’s meeting on Capitol Hill came after CEO Sam Altman joined with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and SpaceXAI CEO Elon Musk to call for a national slowdown on frontier AI model development. Their move and the intra-industry calls for greater AI regulation followed a bombshell letter from a former Anthropic researcher who warned that AI models could be existential for the human race “by the end of the decade.”Chief Global Affairs Officer at OpenAI Chris Lehane said on Tuesday that the maker of ChatGPT specifically supports independent verification audit provisions in the bipartisan Frontier Risk Oversight, National Transparency, Independent Evaluation, and Reporting Act. The bill, introduced in July, would create the first federal, risk-based framework for regulating the most advanced AI models developed in the United States. The FRONTIER Act would regulate frontier AI models by specifically requiring companies to create model cards that explain how models are built and intended for use; create risk-management frameworks; report critical safety incidents; and complete regular, third-party independent verification organization audits and evaluations.Lehane said he spoke with lawmakers specifically about “how we think about IVO and made clear that we can support that.”Lehane referenced OpenAI’s support for national IVO standards in a Sept. 9 letter on the company’s stance on AI policy. He wrote that “democratically accountable standards, independent verification, and meaningful transparency would replace” individual companies’ frontier labs and the “fragmented system of private governance” that goes with the current situation.“A serious public framework should reduce, not increase, the concentration of power,” Lehane wrote in the letter.The AI CEOs preaching a slowdown have followed Amodei’s call for third-party auditors, as well.The FRONTIER Act has five current co-sponsors, along with the initial sponsor, Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-CA): Reps. Lori Trahan (D-MA), Scott Franklin (R-FL), Scott Peters (D-CA), Erin Houchin (R-IN), and Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA). It was referred to the House Committees on Energy and Commerce, and on Science, Space, and Technology.President Donald Trump has, however, put a strict foot down on the chatter surrounding AI regulation, calling the concerns from model developers a “hoax.”TRUMP SAYS FEARS OF AI ‘TAKING OVER THE WORLD AND DESTROYING HUMANITY’ ARE A HOAX“AI, and Data Centers, will be the Greatest Economic Development Engine in History — Bigger than Oil, Gold, Diamonds, or even the Internet. It will not be stopped by brilliantly run Destructive Forces during the Term of President DONALD J. TRUMP!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Monday.Officials standing against the federal regulation of frontier AI have pointed to the U.S. competition with China in AI development, arguing that the U.S. should not slow itself down when it comes to winning the AI race.