White House: AI firms including Microsoft, Google agree to voluntary rules governing AI
The White House on Friday announced that some of the nation’s most advanced AI companies have entered into a voluntary agreement to manage the risks associated with the fast-evolving technology.
Amazon (AMZN), Anthropic, Google (GOOG, GOOGL), Inflection, Meta (META), Microsoft (MSFT), and OpenAI have agreed to the move that the Biden administration says will ensure products are safe before introducing them to the public, build systems with a security-first mindset, and earn the public’s trust with regards to developing AI technology.
“Companies that are developing these emerging technologies have a responsibility to ensure their products are safe,” the White House said in a statement. “To make the most of AI’s potential, the Biden-Harris Administration is encouraging this industry to uphold the highest standards to ensure that innovation doesn’t come at the expense of Americans’ rights and safety.”
The agreement says that the companies will commit to internal and external security testing of their systems, and that they will share information across industries and governments, as well as academia, to help reduce AI risks. Additionally, they say they’ll commit to investing in cybersecurity to protect AI models and facilitate third-party discovery and reporting of security vulnerabilities.
The administration says the tech firms will also develop means for users to know when content is generated by AI systems, report the limitations of their systems, prioritize research on the potential for bias and discrimination of AI systems, and work to develop AI systems that can help everything from cancer prevention to climate change.
The Biden administration has already taken a series of steps to address the rapid rise of AI technologies including holding prior meetings with AI leaders as well as critics to determine how best to move the systems forward without introducing potential harms.
The AI industry has exploded in popularity thanks to OpenAI, which released its generative AI-powered ChatGPT bot in November 2022. Microsoft, which is investing billions in OpenAI, released its own Bing chatbot and Edge browser in February. Google parent Alphabet has also released a version of its Bard bot and is working on an experimental version of its search engine that uses generative AI.
But the technology’s growth and pace of innovation has also spurred fears that AI could be used to do everything from spreading disinformation to taking away jobs from workers across various industries.
In May, an AI-generated image of an explosion outside of the Pentagon briefly sent shares on Wall Street lower before the photo was debunked and stocks rebounded.
Daniel Howley is the tech editor at Yahoo Finance. He's been covering the tech industry since 2011. You can follow him on Twitter @DanielHowley.
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