AI and regulation in the United States
There were few surprises at the first AI Insight Forum organized by Senator Chuck Schumer in the US Congress, brining together big names from the tech industry such as Sam Altman, Jensen Huang, Alex Karp, Elon Musk, Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, Eric Schmidt and others, in addition to representatives of civil society and the creative community.
Companies that historically have opposed regulation want the environment be regulated quickly and forlicenses be issued to operate algorithms, as if they were driver’s licenses, lest some open source initiative comes along giving away products Big Tech sees as a money maker. Congress members are also calling for rapid regulation. At the same time, there are companies partnering to “make their models safe” and to “get it right this time”, while continuing to do things without any kind of control or accountability.
In short, a total absence of detail, plenty of good intentions, and once again, an approach with no assumption of responsibility when companies get it wrong. It’s not like we haven’t had problems with companies that wanted to “connect everyone”, and ended up getting involved in interfering in electoral processes and coordinating genocides, and then getting away with it. As Bill Gurley clearly said in his much recommended, recent and formidable conference at my beloved Royce Hall, “regulation is a friend…
