US Government Secures Voluntary Commitments From Leading Artificial Intelligence Companies To Manage AI Risks

On July 21, 2023, The Biden-Harris Administration (the Administraiton) announced that seven leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) companies have committed to managing the risks posed by AI by moving towards the safe, secure and transparent development of AI technologies (the Announcement).

The seven companies include Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI (collectively, the Companies), which have agreed to take on responsibilities in the following key areas:

1. Ensuring the Safety of AI Products. A commitment to carry out both internal and external security testing of AI systems before release. Additionally, the Companies will share information on best practices for managing AI risks across the industry and with governments, civil society, and academia.
2. Building Secure Systems. The Companies will invest in cybersecurity and insider threat safeguards to protect proprietary and unreleased model weights. They have also committed to facilitating any identification and reporting of vulnerabilities in their AI systems by third parties.
3. Earning Public Trust. A commitment to develop robust measures that will ensure users know when content is AI generated. The Companies will also publicly report on their AI systems’ capabilities and limitations regarding both security and societal risks, and prioritize research on risks posed by AI, such as discrimination and risks to privacy. Lastly, the Companies commit to developing and deploying advanced AI systems to address societal challenges like climate change.

The Announcement is part of a broader plan by the Administration to ensure that innovation does not come at the expense of rights and safety of US citizens. In addition to obtaining support from the Companies, the Administration is currently developing an executive order and planning to pursue legislation to further support responsible innovation.

Summary By: Victoria Di Felice