US President Joe Biden met with CEOs of leading artificial intelligence (AI) organisations, including Microsoft and Google, and emphasised the potential and threat of AI that might have an impact on people all over the world. Sundar Pichai of Google, Satya Nadella of Microsoft, and Sam Altmann of OpenAI were present at the high-level meeting.
“Artificial Intelligence is one of the most powerful tools of our time, but to seize its opportunities, we must first mitigate its risks. Today, I dropped by a meeting with AI leaders to touch on the importance of innovating responsibly and protecting people’s rights and safety,” Biden tweeted.
The US President addressed the top AI officials from Alphabet’s Google and Microsoft, “I just came by to say thanks. What you are doing has enormous potential and enormous danger. I know you understand that and I hope you can educate us as to what you think is most needed to protect the society as well as to the advancement. This is really really important,” he said.
President Biden dropped by the meeting while US Vice President Kamala Harris was speaking with the CEOs, and emphasised the need to mitigate both the current and potential risks that AI poses to people, society, and national security in addition to the potential benefits that might result from these developments.
Given the intense global debate over the advantages and disadvantages of artificial intelligence, Biden’s meeting with representatives from various companies that use the technology assumes great significance. An increasing number of people worry that the rise of AI will result in misinformation campaigns, increased privacy abuses, and unemployment.
The White House said in a statement that the meeting also covered three important topics: the necessity of companies to be more open with policymakers, the general public, and others about their AI systems; the significance of being able to assess, verify, and validate the safety, security, and efficacy of AI systems; and the necessity to ensure AI systems are secure from malicious actors and attacks.
Prior to the meeting, the administration disclosed a $140 million National Science Foundation investment to establish seven new AI research institutions. It also stated that the White House Office of Management and Budget would issue policy recommendations on the use of AI by the federal government.
At DEFCON 31, one of the biggest hacker conventions in the world, leading AI developers such as Anthropic, Google, Hugging Face, NVIDIA, OpenAI, and Stability AI will take part in a public evaluation of their AI systems on a platform developed by Scale AI and Microsoft.
Shortly after Biden announced that he wanted to run for reelection, the Republican National Committee created a film depicting a nightmarish future set during a second term for Biden and made entirely of AI imagery.
(With inputs from agencies)
