After State of Union, Klobuchar praises FEC deepfake clampdown but says Congress must act

Who?

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)

Ask a Pol asked:

“I haven’t talked to you since the FEC [Federal Election Commission] moved on deepfakes — do you think it’ll solve it?”

Key Klobuchar:

“Well, that’s very helpful, but we should still pass the bill in the package of AI, if not somewhere else,” Klobuchar exclusively told Ask a Pol.

LISTEN: Laslo & Klobuchar

Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), slightly edited for clarity.

TRANSCRIPT: Sen. Amy Klobuchar

SCENE: After President Joe Biden finished his State of the Union address, Sen. Klobuchar was walking through the Capitol with a staffer.

Amy Klobuchar: “Hey.”

Matt Laslo: “What are the marks you give him [President Joe Biden] on AI?”

Klobuchar laughs.

Klobuchar Staffer: “He did in his closing.”

AK: “Yeah, he did. He also did talk about the children’s safety [act or KOSA].”

ML: “Yeah?”

AK: “Ya know, and I was glad. I may have been the first one to stand, I don’t know. But (inaudible) on the tech safety. I also was the first one to stand on transparency in ticketing.”

ML: “I haven’t talked to you since the FEC [Federal Election Commission] moved on deepfakes.”

AK: “Yes!”

ML: “Do you think it’ll solve it?”

AK: “Well, that’s very helpful, but we should still pass the bill in the package of AI, if not somewhere else, so, I think…”

ICYMI

ML: “What’s the problem right now if you guys don’t act?”

AK: “Well, we’re just — Schumer is putting together a framework, right? With [Sens.] Todd Young (R-IN) and [Sen. Mike] Rounds (R-ND) and [Martin] Heinrich (D-NM) — it’s a bipartisan framework. So we’re waiting for that. And we got two levels on the AI: one is the deepfakes, to ban those. And the second is the labeling for the next grade down of AI. I gotta go.”

ML: “And you got the White House on your side?”

AK: “Yeah.”

ML: “Thank you, ma’am. Have a good one!”

Matt Laslo’s a veteran congressional correspondent, new media prof. & founder of Ask a Pol — a new, people-powered press corps.

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