Seven top artificial intelligence companies, including Google, Microsoft and OpenAI, will convene at the White House on Friday, pledging to create ways for consumers to identify AI-generated materials and test their tools for security before public release. Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Microsoft, Meta and OpenAI joined US President Joe Biden to make the announcement. It follows a number of warnings about the capabilities of the technology.
Warnings about the technology include that it could be used to generate misinformation and destabilise society, and even that it could pose an existential risk to humanity - although some ground-breaking computer scientists have said apocalyptic warnings are overblown.
The companies have entered into these agreements voluntarily, so there are currently no consequences if they fail to live up to their promises. Many of these commitments are not expected to roll out on Friday, but the companies are expected to work on implementing them immediately.
Over the last few months, the Biden administration has met with tech executives and labor and civil rights leaders to discuss AI. In May, the White House announced more funding and policy guidance for companies developing artificial intelligence tech, including $140 million to the National Science Foundation to launch seven new National AI Research (NAIR) Institutes. Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI, and other companies also agreed to allow their language models to be publicly evaluated at this year’s Def Con.
