Photo credit: www.engadget.com

House Judiciary Committee Investigates AI Censorship Claims Against Biden Administration

The Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee is launching an investigation into allegations that the Biden administration attempted to influence the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) through censorship. Representative Jim Jordan has initiated a series of subpoenas directed at sixteen technology firms involved in various aspects of AI, requesting any communications that pertain to the administration’s efforts to limit “harmful bias” and “algorithmic discrimination.”

Among the companies that received subpoenas are Adobe, Alphabet, Amazon, Anthropic, Apple, Cohere, International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), Inflection AI, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, Open AI, Palantir, Salesforce, Scale AI, and Stability AI. The subpoenas request extensive documentation covering a period from January 1, 2020, to January 20, 2025. Specifically, this includes any records related to the moderation, removal, suppression, or limitation of AI model content, datasets, algorithms, or products, whether communicated to the administration, internally, or with external parties.

Jordan and the committee assert that the executive order issued by the former President, which aimed to establish new regulations governing algorithmic discrimination, created undue pressure on private enterprises to censor certain forms of expression. The investigation seeks to uncover links between past administration directives and the actions of these tech giants.

This is not the first instance of Jordan scrutinizing tech firms; he recently issued a subpoena to Google concerning additional censorship allegations. Over recent years, he has frequently summoned technology executives to address moderation issues. The notable shift in this latest round of inquiries is the inclusion of companies like Adobe and Nvidia, which do not traditionally focus on content moderation platforms.

Source
www.engadget.com