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Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a GOP House hardliner and proponent of limited government, said during a Friday appearance on CNBC's "Squawk Box" that he feels Congress has an oversight role to play when it comes to artificial intelligence. But that doesn't necessarily means he thinks the legislature should demand regulation of the technology. "I don't want to regulate anything," Roy said. "I'm a free market conservative. I'm a limited government conservative." Instead, Roy said, he'd be in favor of AI CEOs testifying at congressional hearings and explaining what they're doing to address safety concerns.
House Freedom Caucus member U.S. Representative Chip Roy (R-TX) speaks during a press conference regarding federal government spending on Capitol Hill in Washington, September 12, 2023. Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters
"There's a perfect role in our federal form of government, our republican form of government, for Congress to have these guys come tell us what they're doing for something that's so pervasive," Roy said. Roy, who will leave the House at the end of this year after falling short in his bid for Texas attorney general, is part of a growing group of lawmakers that has spoken out on AI in recent weeks, after a former Anthropic employee posted an alarming message about the existential threat of the rapidly evolving technology. In an essay published last week, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for additional AI regulation as part of a broader slowdown. Other leaders of major AI companies, including OpenAI's Sam Altman and xAI's Elon Musk, endorsed Amodei's sentiment. At an event this week hosted by the Future of Life Institute, a nonprofit that advocates against large-scale technological risks, Roy joined an unlikely group of his colleagues on stage, including progressives like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, and former White House strategist Steve Bannon.