As a first step towards ensuring that Americans are informed and their data is secure despite the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., is urging Congress to approve an internet user privacy standard.
On the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on intellectual property (IP), Blackburn is one of the four Republicans. A hearing on artificial intelligence and intellectual property, Part I: Patents, Innovation, and Competition, is being held by the panel on Wednesday in the afternoon.
We’re going to examine it from an IP perspective because, when you observe what China is doing and how they are encouraging individuals from all over the world to come to China and file their patents with AI, various applications and uses, you can see how they are pushing this. And they submitted just about 1.6 million applications. That is more than twice as many applications for AI usage as had been submitted in the US, she said. Without investigating the damage that it will pose to our American inventors, we shouldn’t just leave this problem unaddressed.
The senator was making reference to data from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) that showed China submitted more patents in 2021—more than 1.5 million—than either the United States or Europe combined. Additionally, during the past ten years, China has submitted roughly 75% of all AI patent applications worldwide.
However, the Chinese Communist Party has long been accused of stealing American intellectual property; Blackburn fears that this practice will only get more sophisticated with AI.
Blackburn said that, she is aware that it is a source of annoyance for many of our inventors, whether they work in the consumables industry, the aftermarket car parts industry, or, you know, the music industry. The problem is that a lot of individuals don’t realize they are being copied until someone puts something in for repair and they realize they weren’t the ones who created it. It is something that violates a copyright or patent.
When asked what actions Congress should take to protect American intellectual property, especially as China’s AI capabilities progress, Blackburn suggested that they begin by making sure user data is secure online.
She believes that passing a standard to protect online consumer privacy will be the first thing we need to accomplish. She stated that the law must be passed. Giving someone the ability to firewall their information and use in the virtual world will allow them to safeguard their information online and keep it out of the public domain.
Second, how you manage the patent copyright issue will need to be discussed; we’ll talk more about this. Because those produced by technology are not covered by our law. They include those that are submitted by people. We must thus figure out that component, Blackburn continued.
