Foreign Bots Pose Threat to Agency Rulemaking, Senator Warns

A top Senate Republican says he wants to prevent AI bots from being used to game the online public comment system at the federal agency in charge of managing US federal lands.

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), a frequent critic of public lands policies, is targeting the Bureau of Land Management, which oversees more than 18 million acres in the lawmaker’s state of Wyoming.

His concern: Foreign interest groups can infiltrate the system and AI bots can be used to submit fake comments to BLM. He and three Republican colleagues introduced a bill this summer that would ensure that only U.S. ...