The Wall Street Journal reports that Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Alphabet, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and CEO of OpenAI Sam Altman will be joining the government’s Artificial Intelligence Safety and Security Board. Along with other prominent figures from the IT and AI sectors, Jensen Huang from Nvidia, Kathy Warden from Northrop Grumman, and Ed Bastian from Delta also join them. The Department of Homeland Security will get guidance and assistance from the AI board on how to securely integrate AI into the nation’s vital infrastructure. Additionally, they have to come up with suggestions on how manufacturing facilities, transportation service providers, and owners of power grids can safeguard their systems from possible risks posed by technological advancements.
The Biden administration ordered the creation of an AI safety board last year as part of a sweeping executive order that focuses on regulating AI development. In the Homeland Security’s website, it said the board “includes AI experts from the private sector and government that advise the Secretary and the critical infrastructure community.” Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told the Journal that the use of AI in critical infrastructure can greatly improve services — it can, for instance, speed up illness diagnoses or quickly detect anomalies in power plants — but they carry a significant risk which the agency is hoping to minimize with the help of this board.
That said, one can’t help but question if these AI tech leaders can provide guidance that aren’t meant to primarily serve themselves and their companies. Their work centers around advancing AI technologies and promoting their use, after all, while the board is meant to ensure that critical infrastructure systems are using AI responsibly. Mayorkas seems to be confident that they’ll do their jobs properly, though, telling the Journal that the tech leaders “understand the mission of this board,” and that it’s “not a mission that is about business development.”
