FAA reauthorization bill points to China in calling for report on AI use for safety and efficiency

After months of proxy sparring between industry and civil liberties groups, legislation to authorize billions in funding for the Federal Aviation Administration does not ban facial recognition technology for traveler identity verification and would require the head of the agency to report on how airports -- possibly including those in China -- are using artificial intelligence to improve their operations.

“The [FAA] Administrator shall conduct a review of current and planned artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to improve airport...