7 Leading Tech Firms Agree to White House AI Safeguards

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Facts

  • On Friday, the White House announced that seven leading AI companies, including Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft, have agreed to meet a set of AI safeguards brokered by US Pres. Joe Biden's administration.1
  • The voluntary commitments would ensure their AI products are safe before being released, with firms agreeing to third-party oversight, though the agreements don't detail who will be in charge of regulating the technology or holding the companies accountable.2
  • Other commitments include the use of digital "watermarking" tools to help distinguish between real and AI-generated images, known as deepfakes.3
  • The four tech companies — along with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Inflection — also committed to security testing to examine the potential for societal harms, such as bias and discrimination.4
  • Biden highlighted the possible risks and opportunities posed by AI technology, saying, "We’ll see more technology change in the next 10 years, or even in the next few years than we’ve seen in the last 50," adding that regulating the emerging technology "is a serious responsibility."5
  • The move comes amid growing concerns about fake content passing as real, as new AI tools allow for the creation of convincingly human-like text and realistic-looking images.6

Sources: 1New York Times, 2ABC News, 3Ground News, 4Associated Press, 5Wall Street Journal, and 6Daily Mail.

Narratives

  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by ABC News. A vague closed-door meeting with a bunch of corporate executives that results in voluntary commitments — with no path to hold companies accountable — isn't enough. Wide-ranging public deliberations need to take place on the issues that AI might pose, and more stringent regulations need to be made.
  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Wall Street Journal. While there's still a way to go, these voluntary commitments are an important step towards regulating the enormous promise and risks posed by AI technology. The White House and these technology companies are committed to creating a regulatory foundation to ensure that the promises of AI stay ahead of any risks.
  • Cynical narrative, as provided by USA Today. While these regulations may seem like a promising step toward regulating this newly developing technology, they may also lead to a monopoly on the technologies as deep-pocketed tech giants will be able to meet the strict regulations but smaller startups may struggle to meet the regulatory structures.

Predictions