OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, IBM chief privacy officer Christian Montgomery and NYU professor Gary Marcus were worried about the dangers posed by generative artificial intelligence.

Altman said he'd welcome legislation in the space and urged Congress to work with OpenAI and other companies in the field to figure out rules and guardrails.

He said that generative AI was different and required a separate policy response. He called it a "tool" for users that cannot do full jobs on its own, merely tasks. Altman called for a government agency that would promulgate rules around licensing for certain tiers of AI systems "above a crucial threshold of capabilities."

He said: "My worst fear is we cause significant harm to the world."

IBM's Montgomery said it was important to regulate risks, not tech itself.

"This cannot be the era of move fast and break things," she said.

Senator Dick Durbin called it "historic" that a company was coming to Congress pleading for regulation.