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Mitt Romney

former U.S. senator from Utah and 2012 presidential nominee

2 records

Portrait source: United States Congress, Public domain

Records

Thank you, Senator Van Hollen, and witnesses for being here today. I likewise am disturbed by the threat posed by technology and particularly in the area of cyber intrusion warfare, oversight, spying, and so forth. I guess it is no surprise that systems that are in conflict--free nations versus authoritarian nations--would find that the competition goes beyond air, land, and sea and is now also in cyber.

Exact quote, beginning

Mitt Romney

former U.S. senator from Utah and 2012 presidential nominee

In his September 24, 2024 opening statement at a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee hearing on cyberspace and authoritarianism, Mitt Romney said he is skeptical anything can prevent hostile actors from using new tools including cyber, AI, and quantum, other than developing tools of our own that are superior to theirs and staying ahead.

U.S. Senator from Utah and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity PolicySeptember 24, 2024U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy hearing, Cyberspace Under Threat in the Era of Rising Authoritarianism and Global Competition

SourceArchived
Context and checks

Surrounding words

But thank you, Senator Romney, for your leadership and your service, and with that let me turn it over to you. STATEMENT OF HON. MITT ROMNEY, U.S. SENATOR FROM UTAH Senator Romney. Thank you, Senator Van Hollen, and witnesses for being here today. I likewise am disturbed by the threat posed by technology and particularly in the area of cyber intrusion warfare, oversight, spying, and so forth. I guess it is no surprise that systems that are in conflict--free nations versus authoritarian nations--would find that the competition goes beyond air, land, and sea and is now also in cyber. You have to count me, however, as skeptical that there is something we can do to prevent the bad guys from doing bad things. It strikes me that they will use every tool available, and now there is a whole host of new tools associated with cyber and AI and quantum and so forth that they see as vehicles to do what they want to do. I do not know if there is any way we can prevent them from doing that, other than by developing tools ourselves that are superior to theirs and staying ahead. Telling them, no, you cannot spy on your people is simply going to be laughed at because they will spy on their people. Telling them, no, they cannot spy on us, no, they will laugh at that.

What this quote does not say

  • The passage qualifies the feasibility of preventing bad-actor misuse; it does not retract Romney's broader concern about AI risk.
  • The phrase 'oversight' appears in the official transcript in a list with cyber intrusion warfare and spying; its intended referent is not further clarified.

How this was checked

  • Quote located in the captured page; spacing normalised for display.

Reviewed by

an AI reviewer that read the whole source · an automatic character-by-character check

My colleagues and I have spent the last several months developing a framework which would create safeguards and provide oversight of frontier AI models aimed at preventing foreign adversaries and bad actors from misusing advanced AI to cause widespread harm. It is my hope that our proposal will serve as a starting point for discussion on what actions Congress should take on AI—without hampering American innovation.

Mitt Romney

former U.S. senator from Utah and 2012 presidential nominee

In an April 16, 2024 joint Senate release, Mitt Romney said he and three colleagues had spent several months developing a framework to create safeguards and oversight of frontier AI models aimed at preventing foreign adversaries and bad actors from misusing advanced AI to cause widespread harm.

U.S. Senator from UtahApril 16, 2024Joint Senate news release announcing the Romney-Reed-Moran-King framework

SourceArchived
Context and checks

Surrounding words

“AI has the potential to dramatically improve and transform our way of life, but it also comes with enormous risks to national security and our humanity at large,” Senator Romney said. “My colleagues and I have spent the last several months developing a framework which would create safeguards and provide oversight of frontier AI models aimed at preventing foreign adversaries and bad actors from misusing advanced AI to cause widespread harm. It is my hope that our proposal will serve as a starting point for discussion on what actions Congress should take on AI—without hampering American innovation.” “Artificial intelligence models are being adopted at a rapid pace.

What this quote does not say

  • The release is hosted by Senator Reed's office rather than Romney's now-retired office, though it is an official issuer-hosted joint statement and labels Romney's quote explicitly.
  • The release's biological, chemical, cyber and nuclear framing, and the phrase “extreme risks”, are the release's and the framework's language; Romney's quoted words say only “widespread harm”.

How this was checked

  • Quote matched character-for-character against the captured page.

Reviewed by

an AI reviewer that read the whole source · an automatic character-by-character check