Ranking Member Johnson's Opening Statement: Intellectual Property and Strategic Competition with China: Part 3 - IP Theft, Cybersecurity, and AI Hearing

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Courts, Intellectual Property & the Internet Subcommittee Ranking Member Congressman Hank Johnson delivered the following remarks at the hearing titled: Intellectual Property and Strategic Competition with China: Part 3 - IP Theft, Cybersecurity, and AI Hearing on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023:

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this important hearing. And thank you to our bipartisan slate of witnesses for being willing to share your perspectives with the Committee today.
 
Americans cannot pick up a newspaper without a near-daily reminder that artificial intelligence, or AI, is transforming the world as we know it. With a few keystrokes, a layperson can generate an image indistinguishable from a photograph, make a business plan based on AI-driven supply chain predictive analytics, or write code for a new application. Langston Hughes may have died over 50 years ago, but sitting here today, I can ask Chat GPT to write an original poem in his style. 

AI innovations have sparked necessary debate about intellectual property protections for both the owners of the massive quantities of data used to train AI models and the authors of final products of AI-assisted works. But the disruptions to society don’t end there. Looming behind labor disputes lie questions about the future of work when AI is used by the powers that be to replace writers, technicians, and autoworkers. I am committed to working with my colleagues across the aisle to protect creators, inventors, and intellectual property rights overall while encouraging innovation and invention. 

But we are here today to talk about just one of the many ripple effects of AI innovation: How AI is being used—and can be used in the future—to augment China’s strategy towards the United States. As a global leader in AI innovation, People’s Republic of China, or PRC, is in a unique place to deploy AI before many other nations. But if the PRC chooses to use them to increase its authoritarian hold over its own people, to advance its cyber espionage strategy, or to interfere in its neighbors’ elections, such actions will undermine competition and innovation not just in China but around the world. 

Since the PRC entered the World Trade Organization 20 years ago, it has endeavored to gain American data, intellectual property, and our nation’s secrets. Cyber intrusions from the Chinese government or affiliated groups have successfully infiltrated the United States Department of Justice, our military bases, and businesses across the country. The adoption of AI only increases China’s ability to continue these tactics. So far, China has tested swarms of AI-powered drones, used AI-generated propaganda to target U.S. politics, and stolen AI technology from U.S. companies. 

Experts disagree as to how far China has advanced in AI development. Indeed, many argue that AI innovations are happening so quickly that it is difficult to know what the technology can and cannot do at any given time. But there is a consensus that the United States, with its broad array of businesses, strong intellectual property protections, and widespread investment in scientific research, is ahead of most other nations. 

Many Americans believe that it is incumbent on the United States to lead. I am one of them. But leading in development alone is not sufficient. The European Union this summer took steps to regulate artificial intelligence by passing draft legislation that the EU is calling “the world’s first comprehensive AI law.” Even China has issued interim guidelines to regulate the use of generative AI in theory, if not in practice. Of the leading nations on AI, the United States stands out for its absence of basic “rules of the road.”

American technology companies and industry leaders have called on the U.S. government to regulate AI and curtail the privacy and security risks posed by the technology. I’m eager to hear from our witnesses whether Congress can properly regulate AI while allowing innovation to flourish. But we should not stop there. To succeed, we need international collaboration and cooperation in the form of a multi-national agreement on privacy and security. It is only when the leading nations on AI—including China—agree to AI intellectual property, privacy, and security principles that we can take full advantage of the benefits AI promises. 

I look forward to hearing from our witnesses and I yield back the balance of my time. 

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