November 10, 2025

This week in AI federal policy

This week decoded

AI-related job impacts were a focus in Congress and at the Federal Reserve, in addition to ongoing geopolitical concerns, meeting AI’s energy demands, and protecting the health, safety, and IP rights of Americans. White House AI & Crypto Czar David Sacks confirmed on social media he sees no reason for a federal bailout of AI companies, but he supports rapid infrastructure buildout.

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Congress

Hearings

LAST WEEK

No relevant hearings were scheduled last week.

THIS WEEK

No relevant hearings are scheduled this week.

Legislation

Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced the AI-Related Job Impacts Clarity Act to require major companies and federal agencies to report AI related layoffs to the Department of Labor to be compiled into a publicly available report. (Text)

Sens. Chris Coons (D-DE), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Dave McCormick (R-PA), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) introduced a resolution affirming the importance of preserving and maintaining the United States’ advantage and dominance in artificial intelligence. (Text)

Correspondence

House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) sent a subpoena to OpenAI seeking documents pertaining to the company’s internal and external communications with foreign governments regarding compliance with foreign censorship laws, regulations, judicial orders, and efforts. (Letter)

Reps. Jesús “Chuy” García (D-IL), Jerry Nadler (D-NY), Becca Balint (D-VT), André Carson (D-IN), Greg Casar (D-TX), Judy Chu (D-CA), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Danny Davis (D-IL), Chris Deluzio (D-PA), Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA), Dwight Evans (D-PA), Sylvia Garcia (D-TX), Dan Goldman (D-NY), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Summer Lee (D-PA), Morgan McGarvey (D-KY), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Mark Takano (D-CA), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Paul Tonko (D-NY), and Nydia Velázquez (D-NY) sent a letter to Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian requesting information about Delta partnering with Israeli company Fetcherr to expand its use of generative artificial intelligence and move towards individualized, surveillance-based pricing. The letter follows up a letter previously sent by Sens. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Mark Warner (D-VA). (House letter)(Senate letter)

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) urged sent a letter to Senate Special Committee on Aging Chair Rick Scott (R-FL) and Ranking Member Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) urging them to hold a committee hearing on how AI tools, particularly chatbots and digital companions, are impacting the lives of older Americans and what Congress can do to protect them. (Text)

Sens. Ed Markey (D-MA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) sent a letter to Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Todd Lyons requesting ICE cease the use of their biometric phone application known as Mobile Fortify. (Letter)

Sens. Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Jim Banks (R-IN), John Cornyn (R-TX), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) sent a letter to President Donald Trump congratulating him on the emerging tech deals with Japan and South Korea and the semiconductor trade agreement with China. (Letter)

Trump Administration

Food and Drug Administration

The Digital Health Advisory Committee met to discuss generative AI in mental health care and whether the agency should regulate chatbots used as wellness and mental health tools. (Notice)

Department of the Interior

Interior Secretary Doug Bergum said about energy production for AI, “We also need it to power all these intelligence factories so that we can have the intelligence to power industries and power the productivity gains and all the wonderful things that can come from AI … from curing cancer to transforming education to improving virtually every industry we have in this country.” (The Hill)

Noteworthy Quotes and Events

ADMINISTRATION

White House

AI & Crypto Czar David Sacks posted “The two biggest narratives about AI right now are that (1) it’s a massive bubble (i.e. totally fake) and (2) about to give rise to superintelligence (i.e. totally real). Both narratives can be fake (which is what I believe) but it’s very unlikely that both can be true.”

Sacks also posted “There will be no federal bailout for AI. The U.S. has at least 5 major frontier model companies. If one fails, others will take its place. That said, we do want to make permitting and power generation easier. The goal is rapid infrastructure buildout without increasing residential rates for electricity. Finally, to give benefit of the doubt, I don’t think anyone was actually asking for a bailout. (That would be ridiculous.) But company executives can clarify their own comments.”

Sacks also posted a quote from Elon Musk in an interview with Joe Rogan saying, “‘You’re telling AI to believe a lie, that can have a very disastrous consequences… People don’t quite appreciate the level of danger that we’re in from the woke mind virus being programmed into AI.’”

Sacks also posted “Free speech on social media was narrowly saved by Elon’s acquisition of Twitter followed by Trump’s historic election, but AI provides a second bite at the apple (and a much greater opportunity at that) for the censorship-industrial complex to achieve total information control.”

Sacks also posted “Everyone in Silicon Valley understands that the way to win a technology race is to get the most users and developers on your platform. Yet the anti-export lobby in Washington keeps inventing reasons why America’s friends and allies shouldn’t be allowed to build on the American tech stack. This is profoundly damaging to American interests and jeopardizes our lead in the AI race.”

Sacks also posted “If judged based on consumer adoption, AI chatbots are the most popular technology ever. If judged based on poll numbers, they are the least popular. How to explain this? A big part of it is the Doomer Industrial Complex — hundreds of astroturfed organizations that have spread doomer narratives about AI. Writer Nirit Weiss-Blatt has analyzed this ecosystem and traced its funding to just a few Effective Altruism billionaires. Namely Dustin Moskovitz, Jaan Tallinn, Vitalik Buterin, and Sam Bankman-Fried (yes, the convicted felon). Collectively they have donated over a billion dollars to the cause of catastrophizing AI. Those repeating the memes should understand the source.”

Federal Reserve

In remarks on The Economic Outlook and Monetary Policy at the Brooking Institution, Fed Governor Lisa Cook said, “To turn to economic activity, recent readings are consistent with solid overall growth. Output has been supported by household consumption that has held up better than expected earlier this year. Yet, what has been more striking is the strength of business investment. Business investment has been driven by investment in high-tech equipment and software, seemingly mostly related to AI. As I have mentioned in previous speeches, that suggests to me there is a reason to be sanguine about future productivity growth. I see AI as a general-purpose technology, on par with the steam engine and the personal computer, that has the potential to transform the economy and boost productivity. I expect this sector to continue to provide support to output growth over the next few years, at least.” (Remarks)

In remarks at a Fed Communities virtual event, Fed Governor Michael Barr said, “The low hiring rates in a low-hire, low-fire environment may indicate some impact of AI adoption in certain sectors.” (Event)(FXStreet)(American Banker)

CONGRESS

Energy

With energy a major driver in U.S. AI policy, House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-AR) said of the SPEED Act to facilitate government permitting, “The next step is to mark it up in committee and pass it out of committee. I hope to do that soon after the government gets opened back up.” (Punchbowl)

On permitting reform, Senate Natural Resources Ranking Member Martin Heinrich (D-NM) said, “If there’s a space, I think permitting reform is one of the most likely things that could move in a difficult Congress.” (Punchbowl)

House Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie (R-KY) said in a statement, “To beat China in the race for AI, we need to prioritize the baseload energy sources that can power data centers, AI, and advanced manufacturing… [T]hrough bipartisan legislation like the GRID Power Act, Energy and Commerce Republicans are leading the way to deliver the electricity that’s critical to securing our grid.” (Punchbowl)

China

On the debate to include his GAIN AI Act, requiring semiconductor manufacturers to prioritize the U.S. AI market before selling chips to China and adversarial nations, in the House NDAA, Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) said, “I don’t know how any Republican could be against it… The question for Mr. Scalise and others would be ‘how could you be against saying that we’re going to allow for chips to be sold to China over U.S. customers?’ That’s unbelievable to me.” (Punchbowl)

Of the GAIN AI Act, Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA) said, “Once you get used to that technology you’re going to stick to it. We have to be very careful that we don’t market ourselves out of world competition.” He added that if China is “not reliant on our technologies at all then they become the dominant people.” (Punchbowl)

Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA) posted “The CCP is building a surveillance state straight out of a dystopian world, and is now using AI to control its citizens. Make no mistake: the CCP’s reach and ambition won’t stop at its borders.”

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) posted “I applaud President Trump’s decision to restrict the sale of NVIDIA’s incredibly advanced AI semiconductor chips to the CCP. If we are to win the great power competition with China, we must protect these critical national security assets.”

Rep. Pat Harrigan (R-NC) posted “POTUS absolutely made the right call blocking Nvidia’s request to sell advanced AI chips to China. Giving our biggest adversary access to cutting-edge American AI technology would hand them the tools to surpass us in military systems, surveillance, and autonomous weapons. National security comes before corporate profits, and this administration understands that.”

As part of a thread on Trump’s deal with China, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) posted “But IT GETS WORSE (and here comes the corruption story). As a sweetener, Trump tells Xi he might lift export restrictions on selling China the most advanced AI microchips. This would be a disaster, allowing China to catch us in the AI race. Why? Maybe because chip maker Nvidia’s CEO paid Trump $1 million for a private meeting and made a HUGE donation to help build the ballroom. Now Trump says he’s open to helping China get access to Nvidia’s chips - which Biden wouldn’t sell to China.”

Miscellaneous

During a press conference on sports betting and gambling addiction, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said about the use of AI, “The effects of addiction ripple throughout society and are felt by people who become victims, even when they are not directly involved. And so what we’re doing here, really is attempting to put some safeguards in place, not ban gambling. Please, do not misinterpret us We’re not trying to prohibit sports gambling. What we’re trying to do is establish some safeguards against the technological advances that can be used to exploit those vulnerabilities that certain people have, and I’m talking about AI, artificial intelligence has become the all purpose tool of sports betting, so that pitches and promotions can target individuals and know within seconds about what kinds of bets an individual is likely to make it can encourage people to invest more, even when they are losing, to bet more and follow their losses down an addictive rabbit hole, an AI targeting individuals with specific promotions, the micro bets on how many pitches will be thrown, how many interceptions there will be, how many baskets will be made, all of those micro bets offer tantalizing. Encouraging and enticing prospects for the pitches and promotions that are targeted through the use of AI and technology is enabling sports betting companies to make more money and make more people victims of addiction.”

Blumenthal posted “Only the beginning—perils abound on the AI path ahead unless we adopt safeguards. Protecting kids is urgent as chatbots multiply—a far more serious threat than football fakes. Hoping there’s strong bipartisan support for my GUARD Act, which I’m leading with Sen Hawley.”

Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) posted “By 2030, I want Pennsylvania to lead in energy, AI, defense reindustrialization, and life sciences. With our strong universities, skilled workforce, and strategic location, we can attract investment, create opportunity, and keep the next generation here in the Keystone State.”

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) posted “American AI dominance is critical to our national security and economic prosperity. I’m thankful for President Trump’s commitment to protecting American AI innovation.”

Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-IL) posted “Delta executives have openly bragged about using personal data and AI to set ticket prices. Our country is facing a crisis of affordability and surveillance pricing only makes it worse. JerryNadler and I led our colleagues in a letter demanding transparency, because airlines should not be able to use our data to jack up ticket prices.”

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) posted “While California is on the cutting-edge of AI, California workers are also on the front lines of the disruptions it will bring. This is not a future issue. It is already happening. Congress must take care that families are not left behind by this accelerating technological change.”

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) posted “Older Americans should benefit from AI, not be exploited by it. I’m urging the Senate Aging Committee to hold a hearing on how we can protect seniors, who are being targeted by more and more scams in the age of AI.”

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) posted “Google waited until I called them out to remove Gemma from the AI studio after it manufactured fake criminal allegations against conservatives. Google has until Thursday to respond to my letter demanding answers. We will not settle for anything less than a thorough response.”

Blackburn also posted “Agreed, DavidSacks. Last week, we saw the political bias from companies like Google against conservatives on full display. AI tech like Gemma shouldn’t be smearing conservatives and pulling fake criminal allegations out of thin air. This is straight out of a dystopian novel.”

On AI companies compensating original creators, Blackburn said, “There needs to be a method of compensation for those news sources, and then, of course, with your authors, your publishers… You’ve got to be able for those individuals to protect what is their stock-in-trade.” (Punchbowl)

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) posted “AI and robotics will transform our world. Will these revolutionary technologies make life better for working people, or will they simply make the richest people on Earth even richer and more powerful? That is the great question of our time.”

What I’m Reading This Week

Preparing for Global AI Regulations: From the EU AI Act to New US Rules, Donald Kossmann, The AI Journal.

AI Audit Advances Spark Calls for Guidance from US Regulator, Amanda Iacone, Bloomberg Tax.

The Hidden Debt Slowing America’s AI Future, Nick Dunn, NextGov.

Washington Working to Expand AI Globally: The Effort to Export American AI Infrastructure, Shane Tews, AEI.