US, UK Announce New Partnership on AI Safety
Amidst growing concerns about upcoming next-generation versions, the United States and Britain announced on Monday a new partnership on the science of artificial intelligence safety.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and British Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan signed a memorandum of understanding in Washington to jointly develop advanced AI model testing, following commitments announced at an AI Safety Summit in Bletchley Park in November.
“We all know AI is the defining technology of our generation, this partnership will accelerate both of our institute’s work across the full spectrum to address the risks of our national security concerns and the concerns of our broader society,“ Raimondo said.
Britain and the United States are among the countries establishing government-led AI safety institutes.
In October, Britain said its institute would examine and test new types of AI, while the United States said in November it was launching its safety institute to evaluate risks from so-called frontier AI models and is now working with 200 companies and entities.
Under the formal partnership, Britain and the United States plan to perform at least one joint testing exercise on a publicly accessible model and are considering exploring personnel exchanges between the institutes. Both are working to develop similar partnerships with other countries to promote 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 can grip those risks.”
Generative AI, which can create text, photos and videos in response to open-ended prompts, has spurred excitement as well as fears that it could make some jobs obsolete, upend elections and potentially overpower humans and catastrophic effects.
On Monday, Raimondo and Donelan said urgent joint action was needed to address AI risks.
“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 on the areas that we are dividing and conquering and really specialising.”
