Major Tech Companies Such as Google and OpenAI Pledge AI Safety Commitments

Last week, major tech companies such as Google and OpenAI made voluntary pledges to AI safety to the White House. In a report from Reuters, some of the measures these companies will be implementing include watermarking AI-generated content.

The announcement comes at a time of growing worry about unregulated AI. President Biden said of the pledges, “These commitments are a promising step but we have a lot more work to do together,”.  During the event, the President also spoke of concerns about AI and the technology’s disruptive potential. “we must be clear-eyed and vigilant about the threats from emerging technologies“.

This is part of the administration’s focus on AI that began with the AI Bill of Rights which pushed federal agencies to explore their ability to manage the technology. Microsoft, one of the companies who also pledged their commitment stated, “We welcome the president’s leadership in bringing the tech industry together to hammer out concrete steps that will help make AI safer, more secure, and more beneficial for the public,“.

Other notable companies who also signed on are Amazon, Anthropic, Inflection, and of course Microsoft. The move is similar to a policy enacted by the Chinese government. Back in November, Beijing began to require generative AI companies to watermark deepfakes and other AI-generated content.

Though this voluntary move represents a significant portion of the market, the United States is still behind many of its global counterparts. China has already unveiled an AI framework which attempts to balance individual data security and innovation.

Back in March, the US Chamber released a report asking that the federal government begin exploring AI regulation. During that same time, Goldman Sachs released their report on AI’s effect on the economy. Not only is generative AI expected to boost GPT output, but it also will likely affect hundreds of millions of jobs.

But the White House hasn’t been idle. As mentioned above, it has not only directed federal agencies to explore AI-related administrative laws, but back in May they released a roadmap of how to handle AI. So far there is some movement.

A few months ago, the FTC chief firmly told the industry that the agency would ensure a fair marketplace for AI. Not only that, it also warned of legal risks associated with false claims related to AI. Whatever the case may be, AI is an issue that each branch of the US government is trying to get a grip on.

The only question is, will AI continue to advance faster than regulation?