Chief executives from Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic are set to meet with Vice President Kamala Harris and other top administration officials on Thursday to discuss concerns about the fast-growing artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
The meeting comes after President Joe Biden’s expectation that companies must ensure their products are safe before making them available to the public. The meeting will also address concerns about privacy violations, bias and how AI could proliferate scams and misinformation.
In April, Biden had said that technology companies have a responsibility to ensure their products are safe, while highlighting that the harm that powerful technologies can cause has already been demonstrated by social media, without the right safeguards.
As concerns continue to grow about the impact of AI on national security and education, the administration has been seeking public comments on proposed accountability measures for AI systems. On Monday, the White House Domestic Policy Council and White House Office of Science and Technology Policy wrote in a blog post about how the technology can pose a serious risk to workers.
The meeting is set to be attended by other top officials, including Biden’s Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Reed, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Director of the National Economic Council Lael Brainard and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. The companies have yet to respond to a request for comment.
AI technology has become a growing concern to U.S. lawmakers as it continues to rapidly develop. ChatGPT, for instance, is a language model that has recently grabbed the public’s attention for its ability to write answers quickly to a wide range of queries. It has become the fastest-growing consumer application in history with over 100 million monthly active users.
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk has previously raised concerns about AI, stating that he believes there should be some government oversight because it is a danger to the public. It remains to be seen how this meeting will address the concerns of AI and what steps the administration will take to ensure AI technology is developed safely and responsibly.
