Global Courant
Marsha Blackburn talks about content creators’ problems with AI
Senator Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., shares her findings from Tuesday’s AI hearing with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. She also reveals what next steps she and her colleagues are willing to take to protect consumer data during the AI boom.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., is calling on Congress to pass a privacy standard for Internet users as a first step to ensure Americans are well informed and their data is safe amid the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
Blackburn is one of four Republicans on the Senate Subcommittee on Intellectual Property (IP). The panel will hold a hearing Wednesday afternoon entitled “Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property – Part I: Patents, Innovation and Competition.”
“We’re going to look at it from the IP angle, because if you look at what China is doing and how they’re driving people from all over the world to come to China and submit their patents to AI, different uses and applications. And they’ve filed 1.6 million applications. That’s more than double the number that was filed in the US … on AI use,” she said. “We shouldn’t let this problem pass without delving deeper into the threat it will create for our American innovators.”
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Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., expresses concern over China’s use of AI for intellectual property theft
The senator was referring to world statistics Intellectual property Organization (WIPO) showing that by 2021, China will have applied for more patents than both the US and Europe, more than 1.5 million. China has also filed nearly 75% of the world’s total AI patents over the past decade.
However, the ruling Chinese Communist Party has been accused for years of stealing Americans’ intellectual property — an effort that Blackburn worries will only continue with AI.
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“I know it’s a source of chagrin for a lot of our innovators — whether they’re in the consumables market or aftermarket auto parts, or you know, auto electric vehicle parts or music,” Blackburn said. “The thing is, a lot of people don’t know they’re illegal until someone sends something in for repair, and they realize they didn’t make this… It’s something that’s a patent or copyright infringement.”
The Chinese Communist Party has been accused of stealing American intellectual property for years (Jack Taylor/Pool Photo via AP)
Asked what steps Congress could take to protect Americans’ IP, especially as China’s AI capabilities become more sophisticated, Blackburn suggested lawmakers start by making sure user data is safe online.
“I think the first thing we need to do is pass a standard for online consumer privacy protection. That law needs to be passed,” she said. “You’re going to have to give the individual the right to protect their information online and keep it out of that open source, be able to firewall their information and its use in the virtual space.”
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Intellectual property and AI will be the focus of a Senate subcommittee hearing, which will be chaired by Senator Chris Coons, D-Del. (Mateusz Wlodarczyk/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“Second, there’s going to have to be a discussion, and we’ll be doing more of this, how you deal with the patent copyright issue. Because our law doesn’t cover those generated by technology. They cover those filed by people. So we need to figure that part out,” Blackburn added.
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The hearing on AI and intellectual property is scheduled for 3 p.m. this afternoon. Senators are scheduled to hear from technology policy experts, as well as executives from Google and Novartis.
Elizabeth Elkind is a political reporter for Fox News Digital.
