Lina Khan, the former chair of the Federal Trade Commission, recently advised AI companies against self-regulation, asserting it would be a “fool’s errand.” In her interview on ABC’s “This Week,” she pointed to past failures of Big Tech’s self-regulation in social media as a warning.
Khan emphasized the significant harms of unregulated tech and stated that repeating past mistakes with advanced AI systems would be disastrous. She referenced ongoing developments since OpenAI’s launch of ChatGPT in 2022, noting a global race among companies like Microsoft, Google, and Meta to create competing AI technologies, which has led to increasing concerns about the risks involved.
Despite calls for regulation, the Trump administration has notably refrained from implementing AI regulations. Khan also stated that existing laws can address current AI issues, debunking the notion that new technologies exempt companies from legal accountability. She criticized AI companies for their perceived inability to manage emerging cybersecurity threats.
