US President Joe Biden on Monday signed an executive order on artificial intelligence (AI) that establishes standards for security and privacy protections and requires developers to safety-test new models — casting it as necessary regulation for the emerging technology.
“To realize the promise of AI and avoid the risk, we need to govern this technology,” Biden said at a White House event, detailing his most significant action yet on a technology whose practical applications and public use have skyrocketed in recent months.
The order will have broad impacts on companies developing powerful AI tools that could threaten national security. Leading developers such as Microsoft Corp, Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google will need to submit test results on their new models to the government before releasing them to the public.
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Biden said the US Department of Commerce would also develop standards for watermarking AI-generated content, such as audio or images, often referred to as “deepfakes.”
“That way you can tell whether it’s real or it’s not,” Biden said, adding that “AI devices are being used to deceive people.”
Biden said he had watched deepfakes of himself speaking and marveled at how realistic the images appeared, often asking himself: “When the hell did I say that?”
The rule aims to leverage the US government’s position as a top customer for big tech companies to vet technology with potential national or economic security risks and health and safety impacts. Bloomberg Government earlier reported on a draft of the order.
The order will marshal federal agencies across government. Biden said he would direct the Department of Energy to ensure AI systems do not pose chemical, biological or nuclear risks and the departments of defense and homeland security to develop cyberprotections to make computers and critical infrastructure safer.
Biden was yesterday schedueld to meet with US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and lawmakers from both parties at the White House on artificial intelligence and passing legislation on privacy concerns.
Biden has repeatedly pushed lawmakers to approve privacy protections.
Schumer, who has called for the nation to spend at least US$32 billion to boost AI research and development, on Monday said that he hoped to have legislation setting standard for the technology ready in the coming months.
Lawmakers have been holding briefings and meeting with tech representatives, including Meta Platforms Inc’s Mark Zuckerberg and OpenAI’s Sam Altman, to better understand the technology before drafting legislation. Venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and John Doerr have also participated in the closed-door sessions.
Monday’s action builds on voluntary commitments to securely deploy AI adopted by more than a dozen companies over the summer at the White House’s request and its blueprint for an “AI Bill of Rights,” a guide for safe development and use.
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