Schumer downplays need for federal privacy law as precursor to addressing AI

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) appears to be rejecting calls by some senators for passage of a long-stalled national privacy law as a first step toward developing broader policies on the safe and beneficial uses of artificial intelligence.

“You can’t deal with AI without dealing with some of the privacy issues” that comprehensive legislation on privacy would address, Schumer told reporters one day after his “historic” closed-door forum on AI.

Huge databases are central to a lot of AI...