The CEOs of Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic gathered at the White House as President Joe Biden issued new measures to improve AI safety.
Coming out of a meeting between Vice President Kamala Harris and four top tech CEOs this week, the Biden Administration has announced a new set of measures to address artificial intelligence regulations.
Like many pre-approved (and some non-existent) regulations, President Joe Biden‘s new AI initiative came in the form of a fact sheet published by the White House. The president is calling for three main actions to improve AI safety:
- New investments to power responsible American AI research and development
- Public assessments of existing generative AI systems
- Policies to ensure the U.S. government is leading by example in mitigating AI risks and harnessing AI opportunities
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The government is concerned with AI advancements after generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT attracted rapid success and venture capital backing in the early stages of development. The Biden Administration is also worried about generative AI platforms producing and distributing misinformation, discriminatory remarks, and private data.
The White House promised to issue set policies and guidelines for how federal agencies should use AI systems, with hopes that these regulations persuade mass adoption of some ground rules for AI use and expansion. The fact sheet was released on Thursday, the same day Harris met with the CEOs of Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic. All four companies are building competing AI platforms and services.
Harris delivered a clear message to the four CEOs: It is AI leaders’ responsibility to mitigate current and potential risks that AI may pose to humans, society, and national security. We’ve seen some of the horror stories generative AI platforms have created, but it’s important to note that these platforms primarily operate off of the large data sets that humans feed into them.
“Government, private companies, and others in society must tackle these challenges together,” Vice President Harris said in a statement about AI oversight. “President Biden and I are committed to doing our part — including by advancing potential new regulations and supporting new legislation — so that everyone can safely benefit from technological innovations.”
As a sign of good faith, the Biden administration announced a $140 million investment to establish seven National AI Research Institutes.
