Calls for enforceable AI regulation intensify amid political opposition

Amba Kak urges enforceable government regulation with punitive liability for non-compliance, including personal consequences for executives. She argues that third-party evaluators cannot replace independent oversight. Kak emphasizes the need for a regulatory structure independent of industry permission.

Kak's call for enforceable regulation comes from her position at the AI Now Institute and her prior service as a senior AI adviser at the Federal Trade Commission. She argues that current oversight mechanisms lack the leverage needed to hold the AI industry accountable for harms and safety failures across the sectors where the technology is deployed.

She specifically rejects third-party evaluation as a substitute for independent government oversight, describing the industry as having enjoyed "decades of impunity and opacity." Her proposed framework would tie market access to compliance and impose personal liability on executives, reflecting a view that institutional accountability alone is insufficient without a structure that operates independently of industry permission.