US, Britain Declare Collaboration On AI Safety
The United States and Britain on Monday declared a new collaboration centred on the science of artificial intelligence (AI) safety, amidst increasing concerns about upcoming next-generation versions.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and British Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan signed a memorandum of understanding in Washington to collaborate on advancing AI model testing, building upon commitments made at an AI Safety Summit in Bletchley Park last November.
“We all know AI is the defining technology of our generation,” Raimondo said. “This partnership will accelerate both of our institutes work across the full spectrum to address the risks of our national security concerns and the concerns of our broader society.”
Both Britain and the United States are among nations establishing government-led AI safety initiatives. Britain announced its institute in October, focusing on examining and testing new AI variants, while the United States, in November, launched its own safety institute to assess risks posed by frontier AI models, currently engaging with 200 companies and entities.
As part of the formal partnership, Britain and the United States intend to conduct at least one collaborative testing exercise on a publicly accessible model, and are contemplating the possibility of personnel exchanges between the institutes. They are also actively seeking similar partnerships with other countries to champion AI safety.
“This is the first agreement of its kind anywhere in the world,” Donelan said. “AI is already an extraordinary force for good in our society, and has vast potential to tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges, but only if we are able to grip those risks.”
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Generative AI, capable of producing text, photos, and videos in response to open-ended prompts, has generated both excitement and concerns. There are worries that it could render certain jobs obsolete, disrupt elections, and possibly surpass human capabilities with potentially disastrous consequences.
In a joint interview with Reuters on Monday, Raimondo and Donelan stressed the urgent need for collaborative action to tackle the risks posed by AI.
“Time is of the essence because the next set of models are about to be released, which will be much, much more capable,” Donelan said. “We have a focus one the areas that we are dividing and conquering and really specializing.”
Raimondo said she would raise AI issues at a meeting of the U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council in Belgium Thursday.
The Biden administration plans to soon announce additions to its AI team, Raimondo said. “We are pulling in the full resources of the U.S. government.”
Both nations intend to exchange critical information regarding the capabilities and risks associated with AI models and systems, as well as engage in technical research focused on AI safety and security.
In October, President Biden signed an executive order aimed at mitigating the risks posed by AI. In January, the Commerce Department announced its proposal to mandate that U.S. cloud companies ascertain whether foreign entities are accessing U.S. data centres for training AI models.
Meanwhile, Britain announced in February its commitment to invest over 100 million pounds ($125.5 million) to establish nine new research hubs and to educate regulators about AI technology.
Raimondo expressed particular concern about the potential threat posed by AI in the context of bioterrorism or simulating nuclear warfare.
“Those are the things where the consequences could be catastrophic and so we really have to have zero tolerance for some of these models being used for that capability,” she said.
Reuters
