AI Trends for 2026 – Congress Signals Heightened Oversight of AI

Divided government and a lack of consensus on how to move forward on comprehensive AI legislation means that Congress is instead pivoting to focus on industry oversight, narrow bills on AI policy, and requests for additional actions by the Trump administration. Congress is likely to investigate high-profile topics relevant to AI, including export controls and competition with China, data center construction, content integrity, synthetic media and child safety, and workforce impact and the economy.

Controlling the Export of Advanced AI Chips to China

The Trump administration recently permitted the sale of advanced AI chips to China but some Republicans in Congress, including House Foreign Affairs Chairman Brian Mast (R-FL), oppose the decision. Chairman Mast introduced the AI OVERWATCH Act to require congressional review of export licenses of advanced AI chips to China. House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar recently wrote to Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to express concern regarding claims that advanced AI chips were exported to a Chinese company and then procured by the People’s Liberation Army in contravention of U.S. export controls. As the Trump administration attempts to make U.S. AI technology the default global technology, we expect Congress to continue to pursue inquiries into efforts to ensure that U.S. AI technology is secure and cannot be used by harmful actors.

Constructing Data Centers Across the Country to Power AI Development

In December 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, sent letters to several big technology companies to investigate concerns from consumers that data centers may be driving up electricity costs. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) recently called for a moratorium on AI data center construction and some states and localities are considering measures to protect communities from rising costs. The number of new data centers proposed in districts across the country may lead Congress to further investigate data center construction and its impact on local costs.

Content Moderation vs. Censorship

There is broad agreement that AI outputs should not be defamatory or misleading, but disagreements persist over how bias should be measured and corrected. In October 2025, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX) sent a letter to the Wikimedia Foundation alleging that it exhibits political bias and that this alleged bias could impact AI systems, an issue he has raised previously. In late October 2025, Senator Marsha Blackburn decried a company’s large language model for generating “defamatory and patently false material.” Democrats have also expressed concern over what they feel are politically motivated efforts by the Trump administration to align AI regulation with his “anti-woke” agenda. This bipartisan interest signifies agreement that AI systems must be “impartial and factual” but disagreement about how to achieve that policy objective. We expect this issue to continue to receive bipartisan attention in the lead up to the 2026 congressional elections.

Synthetic Media and Risks to Children

The DEFIANCE Act, which recently passed the Senate, would create a federal civil remedy for victims of nonconsensual, sexually explicit deepfake images (images created through AI that look realistic). As 2026 midterm campaigns heat up, and AI-generated media likely plays a starring role, Congress may renew its focus on AI content integrity.

AI chatbots have also been the source of broad bipartisan scrutiny. Both the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Energy & Commerce Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee held hearings to examine the harms of AI chatbots following ongoing reporting about the risks posed to children. Bipartisan groups of senators across committees, including Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-LA), sent letters to multiple technology companies seeking information on the risks and harms of AI chatbots. These investigations have yielded legislative proposals to restrict children’s access to chatbots and establish a federal civil cause of action that could be brought against developers and deployers of AI by victims harmed by AI systems. Companies operating consumer-facing platforms should expect heightened oversight of safety practices, disclosures, and internal controls.

Workforce Impact and the Economy

AI’s impact on American workers and the American economy will continue to be a focus of congressional hearings and legislative proposals in 2026. The House Education & Workforce Committee recently held its first hearing in a planned series of 2026 hearings examining how AI is impacting the workforce, job training, and education. Bipartisan legislative proposals have recently been introduced to track AI-related job losses and to improve data collection on AI’s workforce impact. In addition, Senate Democrats, including Elizabeth Warren, Ranking Member of Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Development, and Senator Richard Blumenthal, Ranking Member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, sent a letter last month to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in his capacity as Chair of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), asking for a formal FSOC investigation into the debt financing powering AI infrastructure buildouts.