Tech leaders meet with the US Senate to discuss AI regulation
Tech leaders including Bill Gates, Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, Sam Altman, Mark Zuckerberg, and Elon Musk met with the US Senate to discuss the future of artificial intelligence regulation, writes Engadget.
In total, more than 20 industry representatives and civil society leaders spoke to lawmakers at the meeting initiated by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. According to him, tech leaders support government involvement in AI regulation.
“First, I asked everyone in the room, ‘Is government needed to play a role in regulating AI?’ and every single person raised their hands even though they had diverse views,” he told.
Meanwhile, the participants of the meeting had different opinions on the risks potentially posed by artificial intelligence. According to Bloomberg, Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, and Bill Gates disagreed on the risks associated with open source AI. Instead, Elon Musk discussed concerns about self-driving cars with artificial intelligence.
“Some people mentioned licensing and testing and other ways of regulation … there were various suggestions as to how to do it, but no consensus emerged yet,” Schumer said following the event.
At the same time, Elon Musk spoke about the “civilizational risk” posed by artificial intelligence. He wants the Federal Department of AI to help regulate the industry. The billionaire sees this body as similar to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FFA) or the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Although he did not specify what exactly the department should do.
“I think this meeting could go down in history as important to the future of civilization,” he told reporters,” added Elon Musk.
In the summer, the European Parliament adopted a bill known as the Artificial Intelligence Act, which imposes new restrictions on what is considered the most risky use of the technology. The final version of the law is expected to be adopted no earlier than the end of this year.