Billionaire Elon Musk called for a man-made intelligence “referee” on Wednesday as tech tycoons and lawmakers met for a closed-door summit in Washington, D.C. to debate the perfect approach to regulate the burgeoning technology.
Organized by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Musk was joined by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, former Microsoft boss Bill Gates, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and greater than 60 US senators.
“It’s vital for us to have a referee,” Musk told reporters, on the sidelines of the summit, adding that regulations were needed “to be certain that firms take actions which can be protected and in the final interest of the general public.”
Musk referred to AI as a “double-edged sword” that would bring major advantages or have disastrous consequences for humanity — repeating a frequent warning that he and other tech bigwigs have given in recent months.
Meanwhile, Zuckerberg said Congress “should engage with AI to support innovation and safeguards.”
“That is an emerging technology, there are vital equities to balance here, and the federal government is ultimately answerable for that,” Zuckerberg said, arguing that it’s “higher that the usual is ready by American firms that may work with our government to shape these models on vital issues.”
The meeting occurred as a growing variety of AI critics, from lawmakers to those in Hollywood, calling for federal regulation to stave off any disastrous consequences, including an increase of deepfake content ahead of the 2024 election.
Key issues into consideration include AI’s impact on the US economy, including its potential to cause sweeping job losses in Hollywood and other sectors.
In his opening remarks, Schumer described the meeting as the beginning of “an infinite and sophisticated and vital undertaking: constructing a foundation for bipartisan AI policy that Congress can pass.”
“Congress must play a job, because without Congress we’ll neither maximize AI’s advantages, nor minimize its risks,” Schumer added.
Lawmakers from each side of the aisle expressed support for some sort of AI-related laws within the months and years ahead. Nonetheless, the precise composition of that laws — and a timeline for its passage — remains to be unclear.
“Are we able to exit and write laws? Absolutely not,” Republican Sen. Mike Rounds said. “We’re not there.”
The meeting’s closed-door format drew some harsh words from Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, who questioned whether it could yield any actual progress on the AI issue.
“I don’t know why we might invite all the largest monopolists on the earth to return and provides Congress tips about methods to help them earn more money,” Hawley said.
Throughout the discussion, Musk, who launched his own artificial intelligence startup called xAI in July, expressed concern concerning the development of so-called “deeper AI” with human-like data processing capabilities.
Musk “raised concerns about data centers so powerful and large that they may very well be seen from space, with a level of intelligence that’s currently hard to understand,” Bloomberg reported, citing a source acquainted with the matter.
Meanwhile, the Tesla CEO and X owner reportedly downplayed concerns about risks related to self-driving technology, which is under energetic development at his electric automotive company and its competitors.
“That is a crucial, urgent, and in some ways unprecedented moment,” added Altman, who spoke to reporters ahead of the meeting. The success of OpenAI’s ChatGPT kickstarted Congressional scrutiny over the technology.
Musk appeared in the identical room as his rival Zuckerberg for the primary time since plans for his or her highly anticipated “cage match” appeared to collapse last month. On the time, a frustrated Zuckerberg declared that Musk wasn’t “serious” about participating in a bout.
Earlier, Musk was mobbed by a crowd of reporters and other onlookers as he entered the summit.
In March, Musk was one in all tons of of AI experts who publicly called for a six-month pause in AI development – warning the potential risks of unrestrained advancements ranged from the spread of misinformation to “lack of control of our civilization.”
Elsewhere, Altman has called on Congress to impose guardrails on the AI industry, though he has downplayed concerns about job losses.
In May, the OpenAI boss co-signed a brief statement that placed the risks of AI on par with nuclear weapons and pandemics.
With Post wires
