Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, proposed during a U.S. Senate hearing the creation of an agency responsible for regulating AI models that operate “above a certain capability threshold.” This agency would issue licenses for advanced AI innovations and revoke them if companies violate established safety standards.

Senators expressed concerns that the tech industry’s rapid push toward artificial intelligence may lead to unpredictable consequences. This motivated Altman to call for regulatory oversight. He agreed with senators that such an agency could function similarly to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which issues licenses to nuclear facilities and strictly monitors their operations.

Altman acknowledged that AI can, indeed, become uncontrollable:

“I believe this technology could become very problematic if something goes wrong. To prevent that, we want to talk openly about it and work with the administration.”

The ChatGPT chatbot, powered by OpenAI’s language model, became one of the most widely used technologies and played a major role in the late-year AI boom. However, initial excitement within the community gradually shifted to concern. Thousands of well-known business leaders and public figures signed an open letter calling for a temporary pause on AI development until clear guidelines and safety recommendations are established.