The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Friday that it has recruited a broad group of AI industry leaders to create an AI Safety and Security Board.
DHS said the new agency will play a critical role in protecting America’s critical infrastructure and leveraging artificial intelligence to mitigate AI-based threats.
“Artificial intelligence is a transformative technology that can advance our national interests in unprecedented ways,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a prepared statement. “At the same time, it also presents real risks that can be mitigated by adopting best practices and taking other well-researched concrete actions.”
The board of directors is led by Mayorkas and includes OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, and Anthropic co-founder. It includes several high-profile AI executives, including Dario Amodei, president and CEO of NVIDIA, and Jensen Huang, president and CEO of NVIDIA. .
“I am grateful that such outstanding leaders are dedicating their time and expertise to our Board of Directors to ensure that our nation’s critical infrastructure – the essential services Americans depend on every day – are effectively protected from risk and that the tremendous potential of this innovative technology is realized. “ said Mayorkas.
DHS will leverage the world’s most prominent critical infrastructure executives, technologists, civil rights leaders, and policymakers to join the inaugural AI Safety and Security Council to advance the responsible development and deployment of AI. ⤵️ https://t.co/eF6IO8SscO pic.twitter.com/aKtAPpzVLX
— Department of Homeland Security (@DHSgov) April 26, 2024
“AI technologies can provide enormous benefits to society when deployed responsibly, which is why we have advocated for efforts to test the safety of cutting-edge AI systems to mitigate potential risks,” Anthropic’s Amodei said in a concurrent statement. “It is,” he said. “We are proud to contribute to researching the impact of AI on protecting critical infrastructure alongside other leaders in the public and private sectors.
“Secure AI deployment is paramount to ensuring the infrastructure that powers American society, and we believe the creation of this committee is a positive step forward in strengthening American national security.”
“Artificial intelligence is the most transformative technology of our time, and we must ensure that it is deployed safely and responsibly,” added Microsoft’s Nadella. “Microsoft is honored to participate in this important effort and looks forward to sharing both the knowledge we have gained to date and our plans for the future.”
Others who have joined the AI Safety and Security Committee include Adam Selipsky, CEO of Amazon Web Services, Arvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO of IBM, Fei-Fei Li, Co-Director of the Stanford Human-Centered AI Institute, and Maya, President and CEO of the Civil Leadership Conference on Civil. Wiley et al. And human rights.
“I am honored to join an interdisciplinary group of leaders working to manage this world-changing technology in a responsible and human-centered manner,” said Li. “Ultimately, AI is a tool, a powerful tool, and must be developed and applied with an understanding of how it will impact individuals, communities, and society at large.”
According to DHS, the board will hold its first quarterly meeting in early May and will immediately be tasked with providing recommendations to the Secretary to ensure the safe adoption of AI technologies for essential services. The goal is to create a forum where DHS, the “critical infrastructure community,” and AI leaders can exchange information about AI-related security risks.
With artificial intelligence rapidly entering the mainstream in 2023, global leaders have been scrambling to develop regulations to address the new technology. In January, the World Economic Forum (WEF) listed artificial intelligence and quantum computing as the most pressing global risks.
After issuing an executive order in October 2023, the Biden administration announced the launch of the American AI Safety Institute Consortium (AISIC), which includes a number of companies joining the DHS initiative.
Beyond national security concerns, AI developers including Google, Meta, and OpenAI on Tuesday joined with nonprofits Thorn and All Tech is Human to enforce guardrails around each AI model to ensure that AI is used for creation. I promised to stop it. Child sexual abuse material (CSAM). CSAM is also the focus of a new letter from Senator Elizabeth Warren to DHS and the Department of Justice.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.