Foster Statement on Being Named to House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence

Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Bill Foster (D-IL) issued the following statement after being appointed to the bipartisan House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence:

“It’s an honor to be appointed to the Task Force on Artificial Intelligence. As a PhD physicist who first programmed neural networks at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in the 1990s, I’ve been tracking the exponential growth of this technology for decades – and the time is ripe for Congress to take action.

“I’m looking forward to building on the work we did in the last Congress when I served as Chair of the Financial Services Committee’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force. The proliferation of AI in recent years has made it clear that it will impact every aspect of our society – from identity security to workforce development and beyond. We need to ensure our nation is able to both harness the potential of AI and protect against any dangers it might pose.

“I’m grateful to Leader Jeffries for bringing this issue to the forefront of the Congressional agenda, and I’m ready to get to work with my colleagues to forge a bipartisan path forward on meaningful AI policy," said Congressman Foster.

"I am thrilled to have Bill Foster on board because of the deep technical competence he brings to the wide spectrum of areas that will be touched by AI," said Congressman Jay Obernolte (R-CA), Chair of the Task Force. "I also appreciate Bill's thoughtful and bipartisan approach to the issues we worked together on as Chair and Ranking Member of the Science Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee during the last Congress." 

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