White House Hosts CEOs to Discuss AI Policy

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Facts

  • US Pres. Biden and Vice President Harris met with the CEOs of major tech companies, including Google and Microsoft, on Thursday to discuss the potential risks of artificial intelligence (AI) and how governments can properly address them.1
  • Just before the meeting, the White House announced a number of plans to address problems associated with programs like ChatGPT and other AI systems. Lawmakers, fearing that 'deepfake' technology will proliferate misinformation, seek to create policies that will regulate how federal agencies procure and use AI systems.2
  • The White House also announced it will invest $140M from the National Science Foundation to create new research hubs to bring the total of active institutes to 25, as the administration looks to learn more about the ever-evolving technology.3
  • As the public’s interest, and the government’s scrutiny, of AI grows, companies such as Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, and OpenAI have agreed to allow their language models to be publicly analyzed during the upcoming Def Con cybersecurity conference.4
  • A senior admin. official told Reuters that the White House believes it must “manage the risks'' to “seize” the benefits of AI. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said, “It's good... to get ahead of this”— referring to timely AI regulation; however, the US has far more lenient regulation compared to European laws regarding deepfakes and misinformation.5
  • Congress is also grappling with how to deal with AI as some members draft bills. The White House issued a “Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights” of voluntary measures governing AI, but the only thing resembling potential AI regulation is a section of last year's data privacy act that has yet to be reintroduced to Congress.6

Sources: 1Reuters, 2CNN, 3CNBC, 4Verge, 5Voa and 6Politico.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by News. Both Congress and the White House have made a point to not create a blanket regulation covering AI at large and to be cautious in its approach to this emerging technology. Some critics may say the White House has not acted strongly enough as concerns surrounding AI grow, but it's taking a prudent approach to invest in research and craft an individualized approach for each potential issue. A decentralized approach to regulating AI is the most effective way to handle this complex issue.
  • Narrative B, as provided by Center for american progress. The White House must act swiftly and strongly as it looks to establish safeguards against the potential dangers of AI. Harris’ meeting with CEOs of leading AI companies is a nice step, but the Biden administration’s voluntary blueprint last year is not enough to prevent an explosion of bias and misinformation brought by AI. Pres. Biden must issue an executive order to further enhance regulation efforts.