Google, Amazon, Meta and other tech agree to Biden's AI safeguards

2023-07-21

Google, Amazon, Meta, ChatGPT and other tech firms agree to Joe Biden’s new AI safeguards to minimize abuse and bias amid worries of misuse

Executives Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI will join Biden at the White House on Friday
Among agreement is a digital watermark to distinguish fake images from real
Companies will put new AI systems through internal and external testing before their release and publicly report problems and issues

Seven leading AI companies have agreed to new safeguards brokered by President Joe Biden’s administration that are designed to minimize abuse and bias as concern about the misuse of artificial intelligence grows.

Executives from Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instgram), Microsoft, and OpenAI (the maker of ChatGPT) will join Biden at the White House on Friday for the official announcement of the voluntary commitments.

The companies, per the agreement released by the White House, will put new artificial intelligence systems through internal and external testing before their release and ask outside teams to probe their systems for security flaws, discriminatory tendencies or risks to Americans’ rights, health information or safety.

Executives Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI will join President Joe Biden at the White House on Friday for the announcement

The companies also have committed to methods for reporting vulnerabilities to their systems.

And will also use digital watermarking to help distinguish between real photos and video and the AI-generated images known as deepfakes.

The move comes amid concern about fake content being taken for reality and worries of bias against conservatives. New AI tools allow the developing technology to write convincingly human-like text and churn out new images that could allow for disinformation campaigns.

The companies have agreed to publicly report flaws and risks in their technology, including effects on fairness and bias, the White House said.

‘We’ve got to make sure that the companies are pressure testing their products as they develop them and certainly before they release them, to make sure that they don’t have unintended consequences, like being vulnerable to cyberattacks or being used to discriminate against certain people,’ White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients told Bloomberg News in an interview. ‘And the important thing — and you’ll see this throughout all the work — is they can’t grade their own homework here.’

Biden’s action is seen as an immediate way of addressing risks ahead of a longer-term push to get Congress to pass laws regulating the technology.

The White House has been getting more involved in the growing debate over artificial intelligence. In May, Vice President Kamala Harris hosted tech leaders at the White House to tell them to seriously consider concerns about the technology.

Consumer advocates welcomed the White House action, but warned that tech companies have a spotty history when it comes to keeping their safety and security pledges.

‘History would indicate that many tech companies do not actually walk the walk on a voluntary pledge to act responsibly and support strong regulations,’ said Jim Steyer, the founder and CEO of the advocacy group Common Sense Media, in a statement.

Per the new guidelines, companies are only required to report – rather than eliminate – risks like possible inappropriate use or bias.

The watermarking system still needs to be developed and there are worries that even after it is, malignant actors seeking to sow disinformation on the internet could easily remove it.

President Joe Biden and his administration have been getting more involved in the growing debate over artificial intelligence

Use of AI is growing – within two months after its launch, ChatGPT had more than 100 million monthly active users

The use of artificial intelligence is growing.

For example, within two months after its launch, ChatGPT had more than 100 million monthly active users – reaching that growth milestone much more quickly than TikTok and Instagram.

But research has shown the platform has a ‘pro-environmental, left-libertarian orientation,’ the Brookings Institute noted in a report on AI.

The Biden administration is trying to regulate discrimination in AI.

In April, the Commerce Department’s National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee convened top tech executives and academics to discuss ways the government could regulate AI.

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