Musk, Schumer Ease Tensions With AI Discussion

The closed-door meeting this week between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and tech tycoon Elon Musk is being seen as a potential easing of tensions between Democrats and Musk over his ownership of Twitter and other issues.

Schumer and Musk confirmed they met on Wednesday in Schumer's Capitol Hill office to talk about the future of artificial intelligence, reports The Hill.

Schumer, calling the hour-long discussion a "very good meeting," said they also discussed Tesla's plant in Buffalo, N.Y.

In addition to being the CEO of Twitter, Musk is the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX.

Musk, meanwhile, tweeted shortly after midnight on the artificial intelligence topic, saying "that which affects safety of the public has, over time, become regulated to ensure that companies do not cut corners. AI has great power to do good and evil. Better the former."

Earlier this month, Musk hailed a Schumer announcement on artificial intelligence, after the majority leader said he's been discussing a regulatory framework for the technology with experts.

The senator's plan will require that companies allow independent experts to evaluate AI technology before it is released publicly.

Musk called the plan "good news" and said that "AI regulation will be far more important than it may seem today."

Still, relations between Musk and Democrats have been chilly after he announced his plans to buy Twitter last year, including when he said he was cutting content moderators and reinstating former President Donald Trump's account.

In addition, Musk last year urged voters to back Republican candidates running in the midterm elections.

Schumer also in December said he's open to reviewing Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, legislation that protects social media companies from liability over posts, after reporters asked him about reports showing hate speech climbed since Musk bought Twitter.

Other Democrats have voiced concerns about Musk's ownership of Twitter, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who in January questioned Twitter's financing and whether foreign interests would be able to gain influence over the platform before the 2024 election.

"There are national security implications, there are democracy implications, there are commercial implications and there are plain old how-we-talk-to-each other implications," Warren told The Hill.

Last October, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., called for the Treasury Department's Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to review Twitter's ownership and governance, noting that Musk financed the purchase of his company, in part, through $1.89 billion collected from members of the Saudi royal family.

Jim Kessler, a former Schumer aide who now serves as executive vice president for policy at Third Way, a centrist Democrat think tank, said Schumer often works with people who have different stances than his.

"Schumer is a pragmatist, and if factories are going to be built in Buffalo, he's going to support factories being built in Buffalo," he said. "Also, Schumer is very interested and also concerned about AI, and he's going to seek out the smartest voices on all sides in this multifaceted debate … he is going to seek out the smartest voices of a whole range of areas and take that into account."

But even with Schumer meeting with Musk, many Democrats still have a dim view of the Twitter owner.

"My views on Musk at the moment are pretty negative," said Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii. "But there are going to be things that we're going to need to deal with regarding Section 230, and there's a whole array of those kinds of issues that surround social media."

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