White House Gets Commitments From Tech Giants On 'safe, Secure, Transparent' AI
July 21 (UPI) -- The White House announced Friday that the executives of seven U.S. technology giants have pledged to take a responsible approach to the development of artificial intelligence for ethical reasons.
President Joe Biden met Friday with executives from Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI, whose voluntary commitments are part of a federal effort to ensure "safe and transparent development of artificial intelligence technology," the White House said.
At a press conference in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington on Friday, Biden said that artificial intelligence is "a great risk to our society, our economy and our national security, but also an incredible opportunity - an incredible opportunity."
Referring to the first AI legislation introduced in October, Biden reminded attendees that in February he signed an executive order to protect the agency from discriminatory algorithms. In May, he said his government had unveiled a new strategy to create a new artificial intelligence research institute to "ensure progress in the industry".
"And today, I'm pleased that these seven companies ... have made voluntary commitments to responsible innovation," Biden said. "These commitments, which the companies will implement immediately, emphasize three key principles: safety, security and trust."
Biden also prepared to introduce legislation in Congress to protect the nation from the harmful potential of artificial intelligence, while drafting an executive order that would further limit the dangers of the new technology.
"Companies developing this new technology are responsible for the safety of their products," the White House said in a statement. "The Biden-Harris administration is insisting that this industry is held to the highest standards so that innovation does not come at the expense of the rights and safety of Americans."
The companies have pledged to implement a series of security measures to improve security and trust in the software, which will eventually be rolled out across the country's major industries.
As part of the plan announced Friday, the companies agreed to thoroughly test their AI systems before bringing them to market. Independent experts will test the software for bugs to identify harmful risks such as cyber security.
The companies also agreed to share information across the industry and liaise with local authorities and governments to manage AI risks.
The White House said companies will invest more in cybersecurity to protect against insider threats and protect proprietary data while allowing third parties to report vulnerabilities in their artificial intelligence systems.
Tech giants will also seek to gain public trust by developing ways for users to instantly recognize that content has been created by artificial intelligence, such as when images are watermarked.
"This activity not only increases the creativity of artificial intelligence, but also reduces the risk of fraud and deception," the White House said.
The companies said they would disclose the capabilities and limitations of artificial intelligence systems, as well as guidelines for ethical use.
Companies plan to explore social risks associated with artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, the government said it would continue to work with businesses to adapt controls to future AI developments.
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with the tech giants at the White House in May as the administration stepped up efforts to ensure the "responsible" development of artificial intelligence.
The meeting was part of a broader government effort to discuss the most pressing challenges facing AI with policymakers around the world.
In June, Biden met with Silicon Valley tech leaders and AI developers to discuss risk management and other issues related to AI.
At the time, the companies agreed to participate in a public evaluation of their AI systems, which would allow programmers to explore ways to improve them.
The National Science Foundation planned to use $140 million of its own funds to create new national artificial intelligence research institutes across the country.
The Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division released a joint statement pledging to protect the public from the risks posed by artificial intelligence.
The administration also released an AI Bill of Rights, while Biden signed other executive legislation to promote responsible innovation, the White House said.
In February, Biden ordered all federal agencies to eliminate bias in their technology action plans and protect the public from algorithmic discrimination, which is a major driver of artificial intelligence technology.
