Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., who co-chaired the prior Congress’s House AI Task Force, said on Wednesday that he is “really optimistic” about Congress’s ability to pass substantial AI legislation and plans to reintroduce the Creating Resources for Every American To Experiment with AI Act (CREATE AI Act).
The CREATE AI Act would make permanent the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) National AI Research Resource (NAIRR) pilot, which the agency officially launched in January 2024. The NAIRR is a shared national infrastructure to support the AI research community and power responsible AI use.
“I’ve been very vocal about my belief that we need to pass the CREATE AI Act,” Rep. Obernolte said during a Washington Post Live event on Wednesday evening. “I am reintroducing that legislation here shortly to establish the National AI Research Resource to make sure that cutting-edge AI research continues to be done in academic settings as well as commercial settings.”
“We’re getting to the point where it’s so expensive to do cutting-edge research that academic institutions might not be able to do it anymore, which would give up all of the benefits that go along with academic research,” the congressman explained. “So, we’re hoping to get that across the finish line this year.”
Notably, Rep. Obernolte is currently the only serving member of Congress with a graduate-level degree in AI.
In helping to lead the bipartisan House AI Task Force last Congress, Rep. Obernolte said the goal was to create a report that detailed a proposed Federal regulatory framework for AI and a roadmap for how to get there.
The final 273-page report made over 60 key findings and over 80 recommendations, which the congressman said are intended to serve as a “checklist for future Congresses” – starting with the current 119th Congress.
“We are hopeful that this Congress will start following that list and checking off those different tasks,” he said, adding, “We think that there’s some low-hanging fruit that is really obvious targets right now,” such as the CREATE AI Act.
Another goal that he believes is “definitely achievable in the near future” is to restrict the use of AI tools to generate nonconsensual intimate imagery. Rep. Obernolte pointed to the growing epidemic of teenagers using deepfake apps to create nonconsensual intimate imagery of classmates or teachers.
“You probably couldn’t come up with a high school that hasn’t had an instance of a student using AI to superimpose another student’s face on a pornographic body, which, I mean, has devastating consequences for kids at that age,” he said. “That’s something we should all be able to agree is not okay … I think that that we should be able to get that across the finish line in the near future.”
Rep. Obernolte said that Congress “ran out of legislative runway last year” to accomplish both of these goals, but he believes the 119th Congress will be able to pass meaningful AI legislation.
“I’m really optimistic, actually, about our ability to pass legislation and establish Congress as an entity that’s capable of doing what needs to be done in this space,” the lawmaker said. “I’m very encouraged, and I think everyone ought to be, by the fact that our task force was broadly bipartisan, equally split between Democrats and Republicans, and we unanimously approved the task force report.”
From a legislative standpoint, Rep. Obernolte said that Congress needs to approach AI regulations “as a lot of little, bite-sized pieces” instead of sweeping, comprehensive legislation. He’s confident the task force’s report lays out those “bite-sized” recommendations for lawmakers.
Additionally, the lawmaker said he’s “very comforted” by President Donald Trump’s commitment to ensuring the United States is a leader in AI. For example, he said there is a lot of “thoughtful work” going into the White House’s forthcoming AI action plan.
“I’m hopeful that when we get the new [AI executive order], that that will assuage a lot of fears,” he said.
