Biden administration to invest $140 million to launch seven new National AI Research Institutes

The announcement comes hours before Vice President Harris is due to meet with Silicon Valley executives for a "frank discussion" about the risks of the technology.

Ahead of a meeting between Vice President Kamala Harris and the heads of the four major U.S. AI tech companies — Alphabet, OpenAI, Anthropic and Microsoft — the Biden administration on Thursday announced a broad series of planned actions to help mitigate some of the risks that these emerging technologies pose to the American public. This includes $140 million to launch seven new AI R&D Centers under the National Science Foundation, securing commitments from leading AI companies to participate in a "public evaluation" of their AI systems at DEFCON 31 and direct the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to draft policy guidance for federal employees.

“The Biden Harris administration took the lead on these issues long before these new generative AI products were launched last fall,” a senior administration official said on a call Wednesday. to journalists. The administration unveiled its AI Bill of Rights "blueprint" last October, which was intended to "help guide the design, development, and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) and other automated systems so that they protect the rights of the American public,” per a White House press release.

“In an age of rapid innovation, it is essential that we clarify the values ​​we must promote and the common sense we must protect,” the administration official continued. "With [Thursday's announcement] and proposed AI Bill of Rights, we have given the companies, policymakers and people building these technologies clear ways to mitigate the risks [to consumers].."

While the feds already have the power to protect citizens and hold companies accountable, as the FTC demonstrated on Monday, "there is a lot the feds can do to make sure we get the right AI" , added the official - as found seven all-new national AI research institutes under the NSF. They will act to collaborate in the research efforts of academia, the private sector and government to develop ethical and trustworthy activities in areas ranging from climate, agriculture and energy to public health, to education and cybersecurity."

"We also need companies and innovators to be our partners in this work," the White House official said. "Tech companies have a fundamental responsibility to ensure that their products are safe and secure and protect people's rights before they are deployed or released to the public tomorrow."

To that end, the vice president is scheduled to meet with technology leaders at the White House on Thursday for what is expected to be a "frank discussion about the risks we see in current and near-term AI development," the manager said. said. "We also aim to highlight the importance of their role in mitigating risk and promoting responsible innovation, and will discuss how we can work together to protect the American people from the potential harms of AI to that he can take advantage of the advantages of these new technologies."

The administration also announced that it had secured "independent engagement" from more than half a dozen leading AI companies - Anthropic, Google, Hugging Face, Microsoft, NVIDIA, OpenAI and Stability AI - to submit their AI systems for public review. at DEFCON 31 (August 10-13). There, thousands of participants will be able to dig and poke into these models to see if they match the principles and practices laid out by Administrator Biden of the Blueprint. Finally, the OMB will issue guidance to federal employees in the coming months regarding the official use of technology and help establish specific policies for agencies to follow, and allow for public comment before these policies are finalized. .

"These are important new steps to release responsible innovation and make ...