> “Innovation is still happening, and the U.S. is still leading the frontier on it,” said a senior White House official also involved in the area. “But at the same time, if we don’t put some type of regulation in place, even minimum regulation that holds companies accountable if something were to go wrong. … The American people will hold us accountable if something were to happen.”

And that's the classic definition of CYA.

It's not the disaster. It's accountability, the one thing politicians fear most, and even the lightest "regulation" shifts all the blame: "minimum regulation that holds companies accountable"