① The committee will cooperate with the US Department of Homeland Security to develop recommendations for power grid operators, transportation service providers, manufacturing plants, etc.; ② It is necessary for the AI Security Council to have a large number of tech giants executives, and they understand the committee's mission.
Financial Services Association, April 26 (Editor Niu Zhanlin) According to the latest report, CEOs of technology industry companies such as OpenAI, Nvidia, Microsoft, and Alphabet will join the newly established Artificial Intelligence (AI) Security Committee in the US. The committee's work focuses on the safe use of AI in critical US infrastructure.
According to US officials, the AI Safety Commission is one of the US government's efforts to protect the economy, public health, and important industries from AI threats.
The committee will work with the US Department of Homeland Security to develop recommendations for grid operators, transportation service providers, and manufacturing plants on how to fully utilize the role of AI while protecting their own systems from potential damage that may be caused by technological advances.
In addition to OpenAI's Altman, Nvidia's Wong In-hoon, Microsoft's Nadella, Alphabet's Pichay, and other leaders in the AI industry, the nearly 20-member committee also included academics, civil rights leaders, and senior company executives working in a critical infrastructure sector.
Other members are government officials such as Maryland Governor Wes Moore and Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell.
US national security officials have long warned about the vulnerability of America's critical infrastructure, including potential physical attacks, cyber intrusions, etc. While AI can improve the efficiency and safety of fuel pipelines, communication networks, aviation, and hospitals, it can also create unexpected problems.
US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayocas said in an interview that embedding AI technology into America's water supply facilities, transportation systems, and banks provides “huge opportunities” to improve services and benefit Americans' daily lives, but it also poses huge risks.
In April of last year, the US Department of Homeland Security announced that it will set up an AI task force. On the one hand, it will study how AI can be used to handle matters such as protecting critical infrastructure and inspecting goods; on the other hand, it will also investigate possible threats caused by AI.
Mayocas warned that in terms of critical infrastructure, failure to deploy AI in a safe, reliable, and responsible manner could have devastating consequences.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden issued an executive order on the establishment of an AI Safety Commission last fall, requiring supervision of powerful AI systems, and also ordered AI companies to notify the government when developing any system that “poses a serious risk to national security, national economic security, or national public health and safety.”
For a long time, the US government largely avoided regulation of the technology industry, but in recent years, due to concerns about consumer data privacy, antitrust issues, and disinformation, the two parties have changed their views on Silicon Valley.
Mayocas pointed out that it is necessary to have a large number of tech giant executives in the AI security committee; they understand the committee's mission.
A US Department of Homeland Security official said the committee plans to meet for the first time in May and then is expected to meet every quarter.