This article will break down what precisely these boards are and aren’t, and what would possibly come out of them. The boards will likely be closed to the general public and press, so I chatted with individuals at one firm—Hugging Face—that did get the invite about what they’re anticipating and what their priorities are heading into the discussions.
What are the boards?
Schumer first introduced the boards on the finish of June as a part of his AI laws initiative, known as SAFE Innovation. In flooring remarks on Tuesday, Schumer mentioned he’s planning for “an open dialogue about how Congress can act on AI: the place to start out, what inquiries to ask, and tips on how to construct a basis for SAFE AI innovation.”
The SAFE framework, as a reminder, will not be a legislative proposal however moderately a set of priorities that Schumer laid out with regards to AI regulation. These priorities embody selling innovation, supporting the American tech business, understanding the labor ramifications of AI, and mitigating safety dangers. Wednesday’s assembly is the primary of 9 deliberate periods. Subsequent conferences will cowl matters akin to “IP points, workforce points, privateness, safety, alignment, and lots of extra,” Schumer mentioned in his remarks.
Who’s, and isn’t, invited?
The invite checklist for the primary discussion board made a splash when it was made public two weeks in the past. The checklist, first reported by Axios, numbers 22 individuals and consists of a lot of tech firm executives who do plan on attending, akin to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, former Microsoft CEO Invoice Gates, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Palantir CEO Alex Karp, X CEO Elon Musk, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Whereas a few civil society and AI ethics researchers had been included—specifically, AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler and AI accountability researcher Deb Raji—observers and distinguishedtech coverage voices had been fast to criticize the checklist, partly for its tilt towards executives poised to revenue from AI.
The inclusion of so many tech leaders might be a political sign to reassure the business. Tech corporations, for the second, are positioned to have plenty of energy and affect over AI coverage.
What can we count on out of them?
We don’t actually know what the outcomes of those boards will likely be, and contemplating that they’re closed door, we would by no means actually have full perception into the specifics of the conversations or their implications for Congress. They’re anticipated to be listening periods, the place AI leaders will assist to teach legislators on AI and questions on its regulation. In Schumer’s remarks from Tuesday, he mentioned that “after all, the true legislative work will are available committees, however the AI boards will give us the nutrient agar, the details and the challenges that we have to perceive with a view to attain this objective.”
The boards are thought of categorized, but when we do get some details about what was mentioned, I’ll be listening for some potential themes for US AI regulation that I highlighted again in July: fostering the American tech business, aligning AI with “democratic values,” and coping with (or ignoring) current questions on Part 230 and on-line speech.
