White House Says Companies Must Ensure AI Systems Are Safe

White House officials met with leaders in the artificial intelligence (AI) field after announcing actions on AI.

Vice President Kamala Harris and senior White House officials met with CEOs of four companies that are leaders in the field of AI: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella, and Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, according to a readout of the Thursday (May 4) meeting released by the White House.

President Joe Biden “dropped by” the meeting to underscore the importance of ensuring AI products are safe and secure, the readout said.

The meeting focused on the need for companies to be transparent about their AI systems, the importance of being able to validate the safety, security and efficacy of the systems, and the need to keep the systems from malicious actors, per the readout.

In a statement released after the meeting, Harris said: “As I shared today with CEOs of companies at the forefront of American AI innovation, the private sector has an ethical, moral and legal responsibility to ensure the safety and security of their products. And every company must comply with existing laws to protect the American people.”

Earlier in the day, the White House announced new actions on AI that include an investment of $140 million to power responsible American AI research and development (R&D) and a commitment by leading AI developers to participate in a public evaluation of generative AI systems, the White House said in a Thursday fact sheet.

In a third action, the White House announced that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will release a draft policy guidance on the use of AI systems by federal departments and agencies, which will also serve as a model for businesses and for state and local governments. This will be released for public comment this summer, according to the fact sheet.

“AI is one of the most powerful technologies of our time, but in order to seize the opportunities it presents, we must first mitigate its risks,” the White House said in the fact sheet.

The meeting came seven months after the White House introduced a blueprint for a Bill of Rights on AI that includes information for banks and other providers of financial services regarding the safeguarding of consumers’ digital data.