A California bill to regulate artificial intelligence fundamentally misunderstands the vector of AI progress and the high-stakes race between the West and China — a race that will determine which values dominate the 21st century.
Senate Bill 1047, the Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act, is authored by Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco. It would require developers to comply with new, strict requirements for the development of large AI models before training and deploying them. This AI regulation reflects a dangerous and naïve disconnect from the realities of technological advancement and geopolitical strategy.
Commercial interests who are behind in the race are egging on such action along with misinformed others. More advanced AI in China’s hands is a substantially larger risk to our country and our people than the small probabilities of sentient AI.
Because of national security and global competitiveness implications, I believe the federal government should lead in regulating the safety of AI. Just last week, OpenAI formalized an agreement that allows the U.S. AI Safety Institute to receive access to major new models to inform safety best practices and standards. President Biden’s White House Executive Order was a well considered balance between safety monitoring and technical progress. The president’s approach had bipartisan support through the bipartisan Hill and Valley forum.
Full article available in The Sacramento Bee.