Supreme Court’s Chevron Ruling Underscores the Need for Clear Congressional Action on AI Regulation

WASHINGTON, DC - On Friday, June 28,  the Supreme Court reduced the power of federal agencies to interpret the laws they administer. It ruled that courts should rely on their own interpretation of ambiguous laws. Jason Green-Lowe, Executive Director of the Center for AI Policy (CAIP), a nonpartisan research organization that develops policy and conducts advocacy to mitigate catastrophic risks from AI, released the following statement:

"Today, the Supreme Court overruled the Chevron doctrine. The Court's new ruling requires judges to exercise independent judgment when interpreting an ambiguous law instead of referring to a regulatory agency's interpretation of what the law should mean. This highlights the downside of leaving AI safety policy up to dozens of individual agencies: as Justice Kagan points out in her dissent, existing regulators do not have enough authority to do the job.

"There is widespread agreement that AI is evolving too quickly for Congress to pass a new law on the topic every time the technology changes. As a result, Congress will need to expressly delegate the authority for a technically literate AI safety regulator to adjust our policies.

"The Loper Bright Enterprises decision does not bar Congress from delegating this authority, but it requires Congress to speak clearly. CAIP urges Congress to speak clearly, quickly, and firmly to protect America against the increasing threats from advanced, general-purpose AI. Section 6(g) of our model legislation offers suggested language to accomplish this goal, and we encourage interested parties to include similar language in their post-Chevron legislation."

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