May 4, 2023 - Technology

White House announces executive actions on AI

The White House pictured with the Washington monument in the background.

The White House is seen in Washington D.C., United States on May 1, 2023. (Photo by Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The White House announced a number of actions around artificial intelligence ahead of a meeting with top tech CEOs Thursday.

Why it matters: Technology usually develops faster than government action can keep up, and the rapid rise of generative AI systems has raised alarm bells for governments around the world.

Driving the news: The administration is taking the following AI-related actions, per officials:

  • $140 million in funding will be granted to seven new National AI Research Institutes, bringing the total across the country to 25.
  • An "independent exercise" at a major hacker event in August — with participation by Anthropic, Google, Hugging Face, Microsoft, NVIDIA, OpenAI and Stability — will provide public assessments of how well existing generative AI systems meet the Biden administration's AI Bill of Rights blueprint.
  • This summer the Office of Management and Budget will release a draft policy guidance on the use of AI systems by the federal government, open to public comment.

The big picture: The moves come as Vice President Kamala Harris and other administration officials are set to meet with the CEOs of Alphabet, Anthropic, OpenAI and Microsoft.

What they're saying: "AI is one of the most powerful technologies of our time, but in order to seize the opportunities it presents, we must first mitigate its risks," a fact sheet from the White House reads.

  • "Importantly, this means that companies have a fundamental responsibility to make sure their products are safe before they are deployed or made public."

Details: The White House wants to hear from companies working to advance AI on how they plan to fulfill pledges to deploy the technology responsibly, per a senior administration official.

Flashback: The administration previously rolled out a draft AI Bill of Rights and AI Risk Management Framework.

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