Senate Advances Deepfake Bill as New Congress Targets Specific AI Harms
The Senate unanimously passes the TAKE IT DOWN Act to criminalize non-consensual AI deepfakes, marking the first major AI legislation to advance in the 119th Congress. Unlike previous proposals, the current batch of 13 AI bills focuses on specific harms rather than sweeping industry regulations.
The Senate unanimously passes the TAKE IT DOWN Act, a bill that criminalizes the publication of non-consensual intimate imagery, including AI-generated deepfakes. The legislation now moves to the House of Representatives, where it enjoys broad bipartisan support and is expected to pass easily. This bill represents the first piece of AI legislation to advance in the 119th Congress.
Lawmakers introduce a total of 13 AI-related bills in the current congressional session, with six of them receiving bipartisan backing. These proposals address various aspects of the AI ecosystem, such as banning specific AI harms, restricting AI imports and exports to China, and encouraging AI adoption within government agencies.
Unlike the comprehensive regulatory frameworks proposed by bipartisan working groups in the previous Congress, the current legislation takes a narrower approach. Rather than imposing sweeping regulations on the private sector, these bills target distinct, specific issues related to artificial intelligence and leave broader AI development largely unregulated.