Meta, Google, and OpenAI promise the White House they’ll develop AI responsibly

Makena Kelly

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The companies — Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI — have all agreed to a series of asks from the White House to address many of the risks posed by artificial intelligence. The promises consist of investments in cybersecurity, discrimination research, and a new watermarking system informing users when content is AI-generated.

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.

In a call with reporters Thursday, a White House official said that the Biden administration was currently working on an executive order to address some of the risks posed by AI. The official declined to give specifics but said actions could take place across federal agencies and departments.

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.

Friday’s announcement comes nearly a month after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) launched his plan for Congress to regulate the technology without dampening innovation. The plan, the SAFE (Security, Accountability, Foundations, Explain) Framework, doesn’t provide specific policy requests but calls on lawmakers to work together to create rules to address AI’s potential to harm national security, cause job loss, and create misinformation.

“AI could be our most spectacular innovation yet, a force that could ignite a new era of technological advancement, scientific discovery, and industrial might,” Schumer said of his plan last month.

Schumer’s plan also included a series of briefings for senators on the technology. Next week, he will host the third briefing. The first two meetings explained the technology and presented its risks for national security.

Since Schumer’s announcement, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have introduced legislation to regulate the tech. Some new rules limiting how the Defense Department could use generative AI have made their way into this year’s must-pass National Defense Authorization Act. Senators are expected to vote to approve the measure sometime next week, according to CNN.

As for the White House summit, representatives from all of the seven companies are expected to convene at the White House on Friday for a physical signing of these commitments. The White House has not said what time the event will take place.