{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.warnock.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warnock-pushes-federal-reserve-chair-kevin-warsh-to-implement-artificial-intelligence-policy-that-protects-all-americans-not-just-tech-executives/", "Warnock\u00a0Pushes\u00a0Federal Reserve Chair\u00a0Kevin Warsh to Implement Artificial Intelligence Policy That Protects All Americans, Not Just Tech Executives", "2026-07-16", "2026", "2026-07", "Democrat", "Senate", "GA", "Raphael G. Warnock", "W000790", "www.warnock.senate.gov", "warnock", "https://www.warnock.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/", "scraper", "According to a Bloomberg analysis, spending on artificial intelligence has risen to about 8 percent of U.S. gross domestic product\n\nAmericans\u2019 retirement accounts are increasingly tied to the artificial intelligence industry, driven by massive increases in the stock prices of chip and AI companies\n\nEarlier this year, Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock introduced legislation to support America\u2019s workforce amid the rise of artificial intelligence\n\nSenator Warnock: \u201cBut here\u2019s my problem: Americans are worried about what AI will mean for the economy, and I\u2019m worried that this viewpoint isn\u2019t represented at the Fed\u201d\n\nWashington, D.C. \u2013 Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking Committee\u2019s Economic Policy Subcommittee, questioned Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh about how to protect Americans from potential economic uncertainty tied to the growth of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry.\n\n\u201cI\u2019d be worried about a massive economic slowdown. You know, the impact of Wall Street on Main Street, and I\u2019d be worried about job losses,\u201d said Senator Warnock. \u201cStock prices tumbling would mean Americans could not retire as planned, and I don\u2019t want to see taxpayers holding the bag should this AI bubble pop\u2026But here\u2019s my problem: Americans are worried about what AI will mean for the economy, and I\u2019m worried that this viewpoint isn\u2019t represented at the Fed.\u201d\n\nAccording to a recent Bloomberg analysis, AI spending accounted for approximately 8% of U.S. gross domestic product and was a leading driver of economic growth. Despite growing alignment between the tech industry and top Wall Street investors, major AI firms have yet to generate meaningful profits. During Wednesday\u2019s Banking Committee hearing, Senator Warnock pushed Chair Warsh to consider this as he seeks input on AI.\n\nSenator Warnock has championed protections for American workers as automation and AI reshape the workforce and economy. In February, Senator Warnock introduced the Investing in Tomorrow\u2019s Workforce Act to increase investments in worker training and prepare workers for jobs of the future. He also successfully secured $65 million in funding for the Georgia Institute of Technology to help the university remain a national leader in computer science research and innovation.\n\nWatch the Senator\u2019s full remarks HERE\n\nSee below a transcript of Wednesday\u2019s hearing exchange\n\nSenator Reverend Warnock (SRW): \u201cThe American economy is heavily leveraged on the success of artificial intelligence, and this is an issue that I\u2019m very interested in\u2014been engaging and talking to folks in the industry and folks outside of the industry, various stakeholders. According to a Bloomberg analysis, AI spending most recently climbed to about 8% of the U.S. gross domestic product, driving the country\u2019s economic growth. Chair Warsh, you have long been bullish on AI. However, up to now, despite investors betting big on them, none of the major AI models have been meaningfully profitable. What are the consequences to our economy if none of these companies ever become profitable?\n\nFederal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh (KW): \u201cSo, if they were to disappoint investors, I think the capital markets would dry up for them, and some of that capital investment would be curtailed.\u201d\n\nSRW: \u201cI guess that\u2019s one way of putting it. I guess I\u2019m getting at where ordinary folks are in the midst of that. The markets behind the markets are real people who have retirement savings and who are trying to make their present as well as their future work. American retirement accounts are increasingly tied to AI, and so there\u2019s the human issue driven by massive increases in the stock prices of chip and AI companies. You might talk about the current markets in a way. It sort of\u2014it is tall and narrow. Let\u2019s imagine if we are in an AI bubble. What would happen to our economy, and more specifically, Americans\u2019 retirement savings, if that bubble popped?\u201d\n\nKW: \u201cSo, I think it\u2019s a fair question, Senator. I take it seriously. I\u2019m not in the business of providing a Wall Street newsletter, but I\u2019ll say broadly to your question about the effects on the economy: booms and busts do not help the real economy, and they don\u2019t make the central bank\u2019s job easier. What the central bank is trying to achieve is price stability\u2014full employment\u2014all in the context of financial stability.\n\n\u201cOn the question of these AI companies, certainly the surge in their investment and the surge in their valuations is notable. But I\u2019ll also note one other thing, Senator. Over the course of the last couple of months, we\u2019ve seen the market cap\u2014both of the public companies and of private companies\u2014under some pressure at the overall indexes. We do seem to see a broadening out now. Why is that? Because earnings now for the last several quarters more broadly are moving up. I don\u2019t want to suggest that should give us any complacency, but what the Fed\u2019s looking for is economic strength to broaden and the inflation that we talked about earlier to become more narrow.\u201d\n\nSRW: \u201cSo, I\u2019d be worried about a massive economic slowdown. You know, the impact of Wall Street on Main Street, and I\u2019d be worried about job losses. Stock prices tumbling would mean Americans could not retire as planned, and I don\u2019t want to see taxpayers holding the bag should this AI bubble pop. I\u2019m not against AI. AI is not going anywhere. It has both promise and peril. I just want us to be thinking critically about this from all angles.\n\n\u201cEarlier this month, you announced a new task force to assess the effect of AI on productivity and jobs. The three individuals you chose for the task force are tech executives who have directly worked for or with AI labs. All three of them. Yes or no, will the Fed include anyone on this task force with an alternative viewpoint on AI? For example, anyone who represents the workers whose lives may be up ended by increased adoption of AI tools and technology?\u201d\n\nKW: \u201cSo, Senator, it\u2019s a fair question. As I mentioned to your colleague a few moments ago, what I\u2019d say is one of the people on those task forces is an academic. Now I don\u2019t want to suggest that the academic is representing some\u2026\u201d\n\nSRW: \u201cYou don\u2019t want to suggest that the academic is being academic\u2014\u201d\n\nKW: \u201c\u2014I don\u2019t want to suggest that, but this isn\u2019t a faculty lounge discussion. What I do want to suggest is that academic\u2019s work has spent a lot of time talking about prior technology shocks and the displacement that it has on labor. The assurance I can give you is that these three people on that task force, like the other task forces, they\u2019re not the deciders. You\u2019retalking to one of the deciders. The 19 of us around the FOMC with a breadth of backgrounds and interest, we\u2019re going to decide what we think of their conclusions.\u201d\n\nSRW: \u201cAs a decision maker, I always want various viewpoints. I certainly have nothing against an academic expertise. I think you know that that\u2019s important, and it\u2019s too often ignored in some of the appointments that we\u2019ve seen around here lately. But here\u2019s my problem: Americans are worried about what AI will mean for the economy, and I\u2019m worried that this viewpoint isn\u2019t represented at the Fed.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-07-17T07:15:58Z", "2026-07-17T07:17:05Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.warnock.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warnock-pushes-federal-reserve-chair-kevin-warsh-to-implement-artificial-intelligence-policy-that-protects-all-americans-not-just-tech-executives/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6803360302001238, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}