White House Gets Commitments From Tech Giants On 'safe, Secure, Transparent' AI

July 21 (UPI) -- The White House announced Friday that the leaders of America's seven tech giants have pledged to responsibly address the development of artificial intelligence for ethical purposes.

President Joe Biden met Friday with the heads of Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI, whose voluntary commitments were part of a growing federal effort to ensure the "safe, secure and transparent development of artificial intelligence technologies." In a statement on behalf of the house.

During a press conference in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington on Friday, Biden said that AI "promises great risks to our society, our economy and our national security, but also incredible opportunities, incredible opportunities."

Referring to the first AI bill introduced in October, Biden reminded the audience that he signed an executive order in February to protect organizations from discriminatory algorithms. In May, his administration said it unveiled a new strategy to create seven new institutes for AI research to "facilitate progress" in the field.

"And today I'm pleased to announce that these seven companies have voluntarily committed to responsible innovation," Biden said. "These commitments, which companies will implement immediately, emphasize three key principles: safety, security and trust."

Biden was also preparing an executive order to further reduce the risks of emerging technologies, as he prepares to introduce legislation in Congress to protect the nation from the harmful potential of AI.

"Companies that develop these emerging technologies have a responsibility to ensure their products are safe," the White House said in a statement. "The Biden-Harris administration is pushing the industry to the highest standards to ensure that innovation does not come at the expense of Americans' rights and protections."

Companies across the country have pledged to implement various security measures to build trust and confidence in the software used in key industries.

Under the plan announced Friday, the companies agreed to rigorously test their AI systems before they go on the market, work with independent experts to fix software bugs and identify vulnerabilities such as cybersecurity.

The companies have agreed to share information with the wider industry and talk to local agencies and governments about managing AI-related risks.

The White House said companies will invest more in internet security to protect against insider threats and protect sensitive data, allowing third parties to report vulnerabilities in AI systems.

Tech giants will also try to gain public trust by flagging images for users to instantly recognize that content is generated by artificial intelligence.

"This move not only increases creativity with AI, but also reduces fraud and the threat of fraud," the White House said.

The companies said they will educate the public about the capabilities and limitations of AI systems, as well as guidelines for ethical use.

Companies plan to research societal risks posed by artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, the administration said it will continue to work with companies over time to stay abreast of future AI developments in surveillance.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with tech giants at the White House in May as the administration stepped up efforts to ensure AI is developed "responsibly."

The meeting was part of a larger effort by the administration to engage with policymakers around the world on the most pressing issues raised by artificial intelligence.

In June, Biden met with Silicon Valley's top tech leaders and AI developers to discuss risk management and other AI issues.

At the time, the companies agreed to participate in a public evaluation of their AI systems that allowed programmers to explore ways to improve them.

The National Science Foundation plans to use $140 million of its own funding to launch new National AI Research Institutes across the country.

The Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division released a joint statement pledging to protect the public from AI-related risks.

The White House said the administration has also released an AI Bill of Rights, while Biden has signed other executive actions to promote responsible innovation in the field.

In February, Biden ordered all federal agencies to remove bias from their technology pages and protect the public from algorithmic discrimination, a major enabler of AI technology.

Meta, Google and other tech giants echo Biden's commitment to AI protections