Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and other companies at the forefront of artificial intelligence development have agreed to abide by a set of AI safeguards negotiated by President Joe Biden’s administration. The White House announced on Friday that it has obtained voluntary commitments from seven U.S. companies to assure the safety of their AI technologies before they are released. Some of the promises call for third-party oversight of commercial AI systems’ operations, but they do not specify who will audit the technology or hold the companies accountable.
A boom in commercial investment in generative AI tools that can write convincingly human-like language and generate new images and other media has piqued the public’s interest while also raising concerns about their propensity to deceive people and disseminate misinformation, among other risks.
Tech giants and AI companies commit to security and transparency
The four digital behemoths, along with ChatGPT producer OpenAI and startups Anthropic and Inflection, have committed to security testing “carried out in part by independent experts” to guard against key threats like as biosecurity and cybersecurity, according to a statement from the White House. The compaines have also agreed to mechanisms for exposing vulnerabilities in their systems, as well as the use of digital watermarking to aid differentiate between actual and AI-generated images known as deepfakes.
According to the White House, they will also publicly reveal problems and hazards in their technology, including the effects on fairness and bias. The voluntary promises are intended to alleviate hazards in the short term before a longer-term drive to get Congress to enact legislation regulating the technology. Company leaders will meet with Biden at the White House on Friday to commit to upholding the standards.
Some proponents of AI restrictions say Biden’s action is a start, but more must be done to hold companies and their products accountable.“History would indicate that many tech companies do not walk the walk on a voluntary pledge to act responsibly and support strong regulations,” said a statement from James Steyer, founder, and CEO of the nonprofit Common Sense Media.
Chuck Schumer plans AI regulation with technology leaders’ support and concerns
Senator Chuck Schumer, D-NY, has stated that he will present legislation to regulate AI. In a statement, he stated that he will continue “working closely with the Biden administration and our bipartisan colleagues” to build on the assurances he made on Friday. Several technology leaders have urged for regulation, and some met with Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and other officials at the White House in May.
In a blog post on Friday, Microsoft President Brad Smith stated that his business is making pledges that go beyond the White House vow, such as support for regulation that would create a “licensing regime for highly capable models.”
However, some experts and upstart competitors are concerned that the proposed regulations will benefit deep-pocketed first-movers such as OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft by pushing smaller players out due to the high cost of making their AI systems known as large language models comply with regulatory requirements. Several governments have looked into measures to regulate AI, including European Union politicians who have been debating broad AI guidelines for the 27-nation union that may limit uses deemed to pose the greatest risk.
UN Secretary-General advocates global AI governance, considering new UN entity
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has stated that the UN is “the ideal place” to create global norms, and he appointed a board to report on ideas for global AI governance by the end of the year. Guterres also stated that he supports requests from some countries for the establishment of a new United Nations entity to support global efforts to manage AI, similar to the International Atomic Energy Agency or the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. According to the White House, it has already consulted on voluntary commitments with several countries.
