(KRON) -- San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan and State Sen. Scott Wiener held a public discussion Sunday addressing government regulation of artificial intelligence and the expansion of data centers.
Both local leaders are competing for the San Francisco congressional seat held by U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi has represented the San Francisco congressional district for nearly four decades.
The debate highlighted how artificial intelligence has become a focal point in local and national politics as the technology quickly alters workforce dynamics and daily life.
State Sen. Wiener addressed the need for proactive government oversight regarding rapidly accelerating technology. He proposed establishing a federal regulator to keep pace with the technology industry, creating a “kill switch” for artificial intelligence systems, and forming international agreements to mitigate risks such as autonomous weapons or cyberattacks on infrastructure.
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“In this country at the federal level congress in particular has a history when it comes to technology of just letting it go and not getting ahead of the risks,” Wiener said.
San Francisco Supervisor Chan offered a different perspective on regulatory approaches during the forum. Chan questioned waiting for major incidents before implementing policy safeguards.
“There's a lot of talk out there; you’re going to hear a lot of politicians, including Scott, talking about a kill switch or something catastrophic happening, or a whistleblower program; we shouldn't have to wait for something catastrophic to happen in order to regulate it,” Chan said.
The discussion also focused on data centers, which provide the computing infrastructure required to power artificial intelligence applications. Wiener advocated for local community control over whether data centers should be constructed in their areas.
“I do not believe there should be tax payer subsidies in data centers I don't think we should allow data centers to drive up electricity cost,” Wiener said.
Supervisor Chan questioned the underlying economic motivation behind rapid data center development and legislative initiatives. She emphasized assessing who ultimately benefits from the technology.
“This legislation that we are simply just turning out for the sake of profit, like somehow this would drive the economy, but it's never about the people and the workforce. I think the approach is constantly asking why, who is this benefiting, and what are we doing it for,” Chan said.
Voters will decide the congressional race on Nov. 3. Final election results are expected to be certified by December.
All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KRON4. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat information into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KRON4 staff before being published.
