US Congressman calls for regulations to 'prevent companies from using AI to eliminate jobs to extract greater profit' following Call of Duty: Black Ops 7's calling card fiasco

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 came under intense fire last week, with players and developers alike criticising Activision Blizzard's use of generative AI to produce many of the game's calling cards. Now, US Congressman Ro Khanna has weighed in on the furore, calling for proper regulations on AI use in the wake of the controversy.

Responding to the social media post that triggered the debate on X (via Eurogamer) Khanna stated: "We need regulations that prevent companies from using AI to eliminate jobs to extract greater profits. Artists at these companies need to have a say in how AI is deployed. They should share in the profits. And there should be a tax on mass displacement."

This is not a new position for Khanna, who has been calling for regulations on how generative AI is both created and deployed in the US. In an interview with the Verge last year, Khanna provided a detailed explanation of his position on AI. He criticised both the datasets genAI systems are trained upon, pointing out that models up to that point had been "trained with generative AI on everything on the Internet without necessarily distinguishing what is true from false", as well as how the technology makes it easier to spread misinformation, and the potential labour issues arising from it.