The United States is widely considered the world leader in artificial intelligence, thanks to companies like OpenAI, Google, and Meta. But the U.S. government says it needs help from other nations to manage the risks posed by artificial intelligence technology.
At an international summit on AI safety held Tuesday in Seoul, the United States delivered a message from Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo announcing that a global network of AI safety institutes spanning the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada and other allies will collaborate to contain the risks of the technology. She also urged other countries to join.
“Recent advances in AI carry exciting and transformative potential for our society, but only if we do the hard work to mitigate the very real dangers,” Secretary Raimondo said in a statement issued before the announcement. “It is critical that we get this right and that we do it together with our partners around the world to ensure that the rules of the road on AI are written by societies that champion human rights, security and trust.”
The US government has previously said that advances in artificial intelligence create national security risks, including the potential to automate or accelerate the development of biological weapons, or enable more damaging cyberattacks on critical infrastructure.
A challenge for the United States, alluded to in Raimondo’s statement, is that some national governments may be unwilling to align with its approach to AI. He said the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, Singapore and the European AI Office would work together as founding members of a “global network of AI safety institutes.”
The Commerce Department declined to comment on whether China had been invited to join the new AI safety network. Fears that China would use advanced artificial intelligence to empower its military or threaten the United States led first the Trump administration and now the Biden administration to implement a series of restrictions on Chinese access to key technology.
The United States and China have at least opened a line of communication. At a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping last November, the two superpowers agreed to hold talks on the risks and safety of AI. Representatives of nations. They met in Switzerland last week hold the first round of debates.
The Commerce Department said representatives from members of the new global AI security network will meet in San Francisco later this year. A plan issued by the agency says the network will work together to develop and agree on methodologies and tools for evaluating AI models and ways to mitigate AI risks. “We hope to help develop the science and practices that underpin future arrangements for international AI governance,” the document says. A Commerce Department spokesperson said the network would help countries harness talent, experiment more quickly and agree on AI standards.
This week’s Seoul summit on AI safety is co-sponsored by the UK government, which convened the first major international meeting on the topic last November. That summit culminated in the participation of more than 28 countries, including the United States, EU members and China. signing a declaration warning that artificial intelligence is advancing with such speed and uncertainty that it could cause “serious, even catastrophic, damage.”
