FPF Pulls Back from Multistate AI Working Group
Due to “misperceptions” about its multistate AI policymaker working group, Future of Privacy Forum “will be withdrawing from our work supporting the Working Group,” FPF CEO Jules Polonetsky said in a blog post Tuesday. FPF had convened the bipartisan group of 200 state legislators from more than 45 states to work on AI bills.
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FPF is an independent and nonpartisan think tank, Polonetsky stressed: In the AI group, the lawmakers “drive the agenda and discussion, and FPF served as a neutral facilitator.”
“FPF will continue to be non-partisan and fully transparent in our work,” he added.
Justin Brookman, Consumer Reports privacy director, slammed critics of the group in a LinkedIn post. “This is ridiculous: the Future of Privacy Forum gets browbeaten into pulling back from its role convening state legislators to talk about AI policy. They had done a really impressive job of establishing themselves as the leading forum for lawmakers considering how to thoughtfully address the real harms that can come from AI.”
“It is telling that some tech companies think in the current political environment that a moderate industry-backed venue to discuss AI policy is now beyond the pale,” added Brookman. “Expect more coordinated resistance to ANY state-level efforts to make sure that AI isn't deployed in ways that injure consumers.”