Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY), selected by House Republicans to chair the Energy and Commerce Committee, has urged the federal government to help free up energy resources needed for artificial intelligence and has raised concerns about over-regulation inhibiting development of healthcare applications, signaling a strong pro-innovation tilt in two sectors under the powerful committee’s jurisdiction.
The House Republican Steering Committee on Dec. 9 picked Guthrie to replace retiring Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) in the 119th Congress.
“I congratulate Brett on his selection to lead Energy and Commerce in the 119th Congress. His leadership, determination, and policy acumen will serve the Committee, the Conference, and the country well,” Rodgers said.
Guthrie was first elected to the House in 2008 and chairs the Energy and Commerce health subcommittee. He is a member of the oversight and energy subcommittees.
Guthrie and Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-CA), chair of the bipartisan House AI Task Force, sent a letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in November touting the “energy sector’s role in advancing U.S. leadership in AI.”
The letter was sent as DOE’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response finalizes a report on AI risks and benefits for energy sector critical infrastructure.
“As you develop a final report, we strongly urge your department to work with your peer agencies to address the constraints on our electric grid and ensure continued US leadership in AI development,” the GOP lawmakers said in the letter,
“In order for the United States to be positioned for global leadership in next generation AI deployment, our critical energy infrastructure needs to serve as a secure foundation that can be leveraged for continued research and development. Without the necessary foundational infrastructure that can support AI models, we risk forfeiting leadership to authoritarian states like China,” the letter said.
“Importantly, AI is playing a key role in efforts to develop advanced nuclear fusion technologies that can revolutionize the power generation sector and provide zero-emission baseload resources that can fuel next generation job-creating industries,” Guthrie and Obernolte wrote. “Machine learning methods being developed in conjunction with federal partners can help harness the power of fusion energy by responding in milliseconds to instabilities within fusion reactions to maintain constant power generation.”
Guthrie, Obernolte and other GOP lawmakers recently sent another letter to the Health and Human Services Department urging it to halt plans for creating “government-administered assurance labs” for artificial intelligence.
“We are writing to express our significant concerns with the potential role of assurance labs in the regulatory oversight of artificial intelligence technologies, and how this will lead to regulatory capture and stifle innovation,” the lawmakers wrote.
Guthrie also cosponsored bipartisan legislation that passed the House in May requiring “the Consumer Product Safety Commission to establish a pilot program to explore the use of artificial intelligence in support of the mission of the Commission and to direct the Secretary of Commerce and the Federal Trade Commission to study and report on the use of blockchain technology and digital tokens, respectively.”
At a December 2024 Energy and Commerce hearing on the economic impacts of AI, Guthrie probed witnesses on issues including China’s efforts, how AI can help in health care, and how “to ensure there are appropriate guardrails in place to check on potential bias without impeding innovation.”
Industry’s positive vibes
Tech groups see an innovation champion in the new chairman.
“Mr. Guthrie will have an opportunity to bring a fresh perspective to how Congress will deal with privacy, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence. BSA is eager to see how we can partner with Chairman Guthrie to elevate US leadership and competitiveness and unleash tech innovation and adoption,” commented Bruce Miller, senior director of legislative strategy at BSA-The Software Alliance.
The Consumer Technology Association in an X posting congratulated Guthrie and said it looks forward “to continuing our work with him on digital health, apprenticeships & advancing an innovation agenda that protects consumers & maintains US leadership on AI, AVs & emerging tech.”
Brandon Pugh of the R Street Institute cited data privacy and security as key issues for the committee.
Pugh said, “I am looking forward to working with Congressman Guthrie as the incoming chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The House Energy and Commerce Committee has focused on threats to Americans’ personal data from adversaries, notably China, during the 118th Congress. That remains a very real concern and should continue to be a priority in 2025.”
He said, “Given Congressman Guthrie's military background and his past support for TikTok’s divestment from ByteDance based on national security grounds, I expect threats from China to be a continued area of interest.”
Pugh noted, “Congressman Guthrie has expressed support for kids-privacy measures, so I anticipate further action on that to continue his leadership. I encourage the committee to continue focusing on comprehensive data privacy and security measures rather than those directed only at children, because they would benefit Americans of all ages. However, it is imperative that any privacy measure balances the needs of consumers, industry, innovation, and security. Notably, Congressman Guthrie has raised concerns about how measures might impact small businesses.”