Amazon Security Chief Advocates for Minimal AI Regulation, Echoing Big Tech Stance

Amazon Security Chief Urges Hands-Off Approach to AI Regulation

Amazon.com Inc.'s chief security officer joined officials at other major tech companies in calling for fewer regulations in artificial intelligence, warning that government involvement in this rapidly emerging area risks narrowing the scope of the company's work. "The tension with regulation of any kind is that it tends to retard progress," Steve Schmidt, who heads security for both Amazon and AWS, told Bloomberg News on Tuesday. "So the way we tend to focus on standards is to let the industry figure out what the right standards are, and that will be driven by our customers."

Amazon joins tech chorus urging hands-off approach to regulating AI

Amazon's chief security officer joined officials at other major tech companies in calling for fewer regulations in artificial intelligence, warning that government involvement in this rapidly emerging area risks narrowing the scope of the company's work. "The tension with regulation of any kind is that it tends to retard progress," Steve Schmidt, who heads security for both Amazon and AWS, told Bloomberg News on Tuesday. "So the way we tend to focus on standards is to let the industry figure out what the right standards are, and that will be driven by our customers." The leaders of Microsoft, OpenAI, Advanced Micro Devices and CoreWeave testified to Congress last month that regulations inhibited their growth and hindered their ability to win the AI race with China. Sam Altman, OpenAI's chief executive, said the U.S. needs "sensible regulation that does not slow us down." The House buried language in President Donald Trump's massive tax package that would block states from enforcing new artificial intelligence rules, drawing bipartisan objections and exposing tension in Washington over allowing for more unchecked AI development. Trump himself has taken steps to remove constraints on AI development, including rescinding the Biden administration's executive order on artificial intelligence and ushering a wave of AI deals in the Middle East. House Speaker Mike Johnson has said the AI provision has "national security implications" to ensure the U.S. can compete with China. But the provision may not comport with strict Senate rules that allow only language that is budgetary in nature to avert a filibuster and pass by a simple majority. The Senate instead has offered language that would deny states federal funding for broadband internet projects if they enforced AI regulations, but the chamber's rules-keeper has not yet weighed in on that provision. "We have yet to argue this before the parliamentarian. I anticipate that we will do so this week or next week," Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Cruz told Bloomberg TV on Tuesday. "I don't know how she'll rule." Cruz called the Senate provision "very sound policy." Amazon, like its Big Tech peers, has been pouring billions of dollars into the data centers that power AI, including a recent announcement that it plans to spend as much as $20 billion on server farms in Pennsylvania. -- With assistance from Emily Birnbaum, Kailey Leinz and Joe Mathieu.

Amazon Executive Says Government Regulation of AI Could Limit Progress | PYMNTS.com

By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. "The tension with regulation of any kind is that it tends to retard progress," Schmidt said, per the report. "So the way we tend to focus on standards is to let the industry figure out what the right standards are, and that will be driven by our customers." Schmidt's comments came at a time when the parliamentarian of the U.S. Senate is set to consider whether a provision forbidding states from enforcing new AI rules can remain in President Donald Trump's tax package, according to the report. Senate rules allow tax packages to include only language that is budgetary in nature, so the Senate has proposed language that would deny federal funding for broadband internet projects to states that enforce AI regulations, the report said. Earlier, Trump rescinded the Biden administration's executive order on AI, per the report. Trump repealed Biden's AI regulations on his first day in office, marking a policy shift that is lighter on regulations and guardrails and more pro-growth and pro-innovation, PYMNTS reported Jan. 22. Biden's executive order would have required the federal government to vet the advanced AI models of major developers such as Amazon, OpenAI, Google and other tech giants. It also established chief AI officers in major federal agencies and set out frameworks that addressed ethical and security risks. The proposed 10-year freeze on state-level regulation of AI that is included in the tax and spending bill includes carveouts for state measures that "remove legal impediments" or "facilitate the deployment or operation" of AI systems, as well as laws that "streamline licensing, permitting, routing, zoning, procurement or reporting procedures," PYMNTS reported May 21. It would also allow state laws that do not impose any substantive "design, performance, data-handling, documentation, civil liability, taxation, fee or other requirement" on AI systems. Tech industry leaders argue that a national framework is needed to avoid a patchwork of conflicting rules, while critics of preemption say Congress has failed to pass meaningful legislation on AI, leaving states to fill the gap.