President Biden Pushes Tech Leaders To Get Tough on A.I. Safety

White House Brokers AI Safety Pledge

In what could be an important victory for the Biden administration, top players in artificial intelligence, including Microsoft, Google and OpenAI, gathered at the White House on Friday to play it safe in developing the technology that has fascinated and rocked Wall Street. A number of world leaders who plan to pledge to incorporate.

The initiative is voluntary, but industry watchers see the move as an important first step in protecting consumers and businesses.

The White House is calling on companies to engage in “responsible” development. There are growing concerns that AI could fuel misinformation and cybercrime, posing national security risks. There are also concerns that this technology will steal jobs and that unethical players will abuse the intellectual property of companies, artists and ordinary people in commercializing generative AI tools. These complaints have already led to a series of lawsuits.

The White House said it would work with its overseas allies, including the UK, Germany, Japan and South Korea, to build common ground on AI governance.it comes like china develop your own guidelines For AI and chatbots, which have exploded in use in recent months.

Congress lags behind in enacting AI legislationDespite calls from the industry for regulation. The Biden administration Hosted technology company executives He held a “candid discussion” about the future of AI at the White House in the spring. Said “We are working on an executive order to advance bipartisan legislation to help America lead responsible innovation,” the company said.

Industry efforts are probably the easiest way to see effectiveness. This safeguard includes a pledge not to release AI products commercially until they have undergone safety testing. Introduce a watermarking system to minimize fraud and deception. Publicly disclose the capabilities and limitations of the tool. And it is an initiative to study the social risks of technology.

Efforts like this are importantMikko Hypponen, chief research officer at software company WithSecure and cybercrime adviser to Europol, told DealBook. One of his main concerns is that malware authors are using generative AI to develop powerful hacking tools. While these developments are inevitable, he said industry cooperation can minimize the risks until rules are in place. Otherwise, companies’ focus will be on competing for market share, and “competition is dangerous when you’re trying to do things safely and reliably,” he said.

Those scheduled to attend the session at the White House include: Brad Smith of Microsoft, Nick Clegg of Meta, Kent Walker of Google, Greg Brockman of OpenAI, Adam Selipsky of Amazon Web Services, Dario Amodei of Anthropic, Mustafa Suleyman of Inflection AI.

• Other AI News: Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who stepped down from his leadership role in 2019, said: reportedly returned We work closely with researchers on the company’s AI efforts.

what is going on here

Microsoft has overcome another FTC hurdle. the agency said it would withdraw an administrative lawsuit It is considering a $69 billion bid for software giant Activision Blizzard, paving the way for Microsoft to negotiate a settlement or to argue that the FTC should drop its objection.

FTX sued Sam Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison and others for $1 billion. What the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange wants scratch back The money was raised from FTX founder Bankman Freed and his former lieutenants, including Ellison. The company accuses them of misappropriating funds before bankruptcy.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed rate hike is almost complete. Former central bank governor says Rate hike at next week’s Fed meeting That’s very likely, but the move in September is “doable.” Markets have recently rallied on hopes that the Fed is nearing the end of its tightening cycle as inflation begins to ease.

The Biden administration plans to increase drilling costs on federal land. It will be the first change in more than a century to royalties paid by energy companies to extract gas, oil and coal from government-owned territories. The Interior Department estimates that energy companies will incur $1.8 billion in additional costs by 2031 as a result of the move.

Dan Snyder breaks two records

The NFL on Thursday approved the sale of the Washington Commanders to a group led by Apollo co-founder Josh Harris for a record $6.05 billion.

The deal is a huge profit for Dan Snyder, who bought the team for $800 million in 1999. But another number dominated the headlines. Snyder was fined a record $60 million for sexually harassing a female employee.

17 months of research led to this discovery It is led by former federal prosecutor and Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Mary Jo White. She concluded that Mr. Snyder had sexually harassed Tiffany Johnston, a former cheerleader and marketer for The Commander.

The report also found that the team deliberately hid and withheld at least $11 million in earnings to be split among the league’s 32 teams. The investigation did not rule out the possibility that Mr. Snyder directed or participated in this revenue shielding, but “at least he was aware of certain efforts to minimize revenue sharing.”

what next? Mr. Harris has focused on improving the team’s image and is exploring options to restore or replace FedEx Field, the team’s home ground since 1997 (local politicians were wary of working with Snyder). . People,” Harris, who grew up near Chevy Chase, Maryland, told The Times.

Activist investor with an eye for luxury goods

French luxury holding company Kering shocked the fashion industry this week by announcing a sweeping restructuring of its senior ranks, including the resignation of the longtime CEO of the company’s luxury brand Gucci.

The move comes amid continued weakness in sales and stock prices. But the conglomerate, run by billionaire François-Henri Pinault, is backed by London-based activist hedge fund Bluebell Capital Partners, which has had previous ties to luxury giants. is also under pressure, a person familiar with the matter told Dealbooks Michael de la Merced and The. Elizabeth Peyton of The Times (Kering declined to comment).

In recent years, activists have turned against the luxury goods industry. Dan Loeb’s Third Point and Artisan Partners called on Richemont, the owner of jewelry brands such as Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, to make a change. But the most active of these days are bluebells. Bluebell is a four-year-old, $250 million company. Targeted Richemont, as well as fashion brand Hugo Boss. (Bluebell also asked BlackRock and GlaxoSmithKline to change.)

Bluebell failed to convince Richemont shareholders to add former Bvlgari chief executive Francesco Trapani to its board, but the conglomerate agreed to give the public more leverage.

Bluebell has ambitious targets for Kering. The hedge fund wants many changes from the conglomerate and Gucci, but is also proposing a merger with Richemont, said people familiar with the discussions.

But reaching an agreement will not be easy. Richemont founder Johann Rupert said in May: I wasn’t interested in the merger. — and two years ago rejected such an offer. And Pinault may not be interested either. Moreover, both high-end companies are controlled by the founding families, making it nearly impossible for outside investors to win corporate elections.

Bluebell hopes reluctant shareholders will join its push. Kering’s share price has been overtaken by rivals such as Hermès and LVMH over the past year, but sales have rose by just 1 percent, increased to €5.08 billion ($5.58 billion at the time) in the first quarter. But Kering shares rose more than 7% on Wednesday. Bloomberg first reported About Bluebell’s efforts.

“Actually, through high school and college, I wanted to be a journalist.”

— Lina KhanThe FTC chairman told The Wall Street Journal that he turned down an offer to become a merchandise reporter for the paper after college.

‘Babenheimer’ rocks the box office

North American ticket sales hit 200 million for the first time since December 2021 as the film industry gears up for what is expected to be one of the best weekends in years, according to Gower Street Analytics. Expected to exceed $50 million.

reason? Two very different movies that made movie executives rethink what they thought about summer blockbusters. Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig, the bubblegum-pink subversive Mattel doll, and Oppenheimer, a three-hour heavy J. Robert biopic directed by Christopher Nolan. Oppenheimer and his role in building the atomic bomb.

Consumers have purchased over 200,000 tickets to watch movies in a row. “Barbenheimer” According to the National Association of Theater Owners, an industry lobby group. “I’ve never seen one before,” said Bob Bagby, CEO of B&B Theaters, which operates more than 50 venues in the Midwest.

‘Barbie dolls’ could make up to $189 million this weekend,Oppenheimer is expected to make between $55 million and $64 million, according to movie tracking service The Quorum. Both are a departure from the superhero movies and sequels that studios tend to bet that they will be summer hits. “Usually in the summer studios are very risk-averse,” said Comscore analyst Paul Dargarabedian. “I want the most commercial film.”

“Barbie” is based on the doll everyone knowsbut That alone isn’t enough to guarantee a movie hit. And Dargarabedian said it would be a risk to leave the reins to director Gerwig, acclaimed for “Lady Bird” and “Little Women,” rather than making it a romantic comedy. star power Starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, and Widespread marketing onslaughtcertainly helpful).

blockbusters usually compete at the box officeBut ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ seem to help each other. Even if the actual audience for both films was relatively small, “there’s no denying that they’ve grown in popularity exponentially,” Dargarabedian said.

However, it is not clear whether Verbenheimer is a reproducible playbook. “Part of this was by design,” Dargarabedian said. “Some of them are coincidences. And, you know, the movie gods played a role.”

speed reading

Information of sale

• blackstone president Jonathan Gray We believe the trading drought may end soon. (FT)

• CVC Capital Partners Raised €26 billion ($29 billion) as the largest private equity fund in history. (Bloomberg)

policy

• Twitter plans to subpoena Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts over its interactions with regulators. Complaining an FTC Consent Order. (Reuters)

• …and Elon Musk tweeted In response to a press request for comment, the company said it would stop using the poop emoji. (twitter)

• The emails of the US Ambassador to China were reportedly hacked by an operation linked to Chinese espionage. (WSJ)

best of the rest

• Millet, the “poor man’s” super grain, i’m having a little time, appearing in Michelin-starred restaurants and the White House. (Bloomberg)

• “Why is Switzerland importing so much cheese – especially -?” (New York Times)

We appreciate your feedback. Please email your comments and suggestions to dealbook@nytimes.com.