What will AI regulation look like?
The fireworks typically set off when tech executives testify before Congress were absent from yesterday’s Senate hearing on artificial intelligence. Instead, lawmakers spent three hours questioning OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in what appears to be a genuine effort to understand the growing importance and dangers of artificial intelligence. bottom.
A central issue in the debate was how Washington should regulate AI. And perhaps surprisingly, Mr. Altman and lawmakers from both parties agreed on more points than they disagreed. (another unexpected nugget: Altman said he doesn’t own a stake in the sensationally growing AI company, which surprised Louisiana Republican Senator John Kennedy. )
The biggest surprise is the agreement to create a new AI agency. Altman proposed the creation of a new government agency to issue development licenses for large-scale AI models, safety regulations, and the tests that AI models must pass before being released to the public.
Republican lawmakers who normally avoid expanding the federal government also attended. South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham likened AI to a nuclear reactor that requires a driver’s license and periodic testing. When Christina Montgomery, IBM’s Chief Privacy Trust Officer and another witness suggested that a new agency was not needed, she said: graham pushed back“I don’t understand how you don’t need a government agency to handle perhaps the most innovative technology ever,” he said.
Witnesses and lawmakers said other restrictions were necessary. Altman and Montgomery said users should be able to choose not to have their data used to train AI services. Senator Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee Republican), meanwhile, expressed concern about who owns the computer-generated material that AI models produce after being trained on copyrighted data.
And consumers, Montgomery added: should be made aware every time you interact with the chatbot. “No one should be tricked into interacting with an AI system,” she said.
Lawmakers wanted to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, That includes failing to contain tech giants like Facebook. “Congress failed to capture the moment on social media,” said Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, chairman of the Senate committee that hosted the hearing.
But skeptics fear Washington is again missing an important nuance. in making new regulations. Sarah Myers-West of the AI Now Institute, a policy research center, told The Times that Altman’s proposal didn’t address how the technology would be used to crack down on the police, and that it would not be possible in Silicon Valley. He said there is no speed limit on the speed of new product development.
The latter may be a tough sell for some lawmakers. Delaware Democratic Senator Chris Coons said China was working on products that “strengthen the core values of the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese regime,” suggesting U.S. industry should do its part. . as a counterweight to that.
It’s unclear whether Altman’s collaborative approach will spare the AI industry from Washington’s crackdown. Consider how some cryptocurrency executives also asked Congress and regulators to create and clarify their own rules, but the SEC took a tough stance in the end.
Work in parliament continues. At a less-famous hearing in the Senate yesterday, Government Agencies Should Leverage AIMeanwhile, the House Judiciary Subcommittee is scheduled to hold a hearing today. AI and copyright law.
what is going on here
BlackRock requires employees to work four days a week. investment management giant new policyincreased from three days a week as many Wall Street companies pushed for a return to pre-pandemic work patterns. However, the hybrid model still seems to be doing well. the office is half empty.
US prosecutors have accused a former Apple employee of stealing trade secrets. In the indictment, Wang Weibao is accused of: bring thousands of documents Some of them are related to research into self-driving cars for the tech giant, but they also work for the US subsidiary of a rival company headquartered in China. This is one of the first indictments by a task force focused on protecting America’s critical technology.
The Florida government is poised to court Wall Street companies. Lawmakers yesterday introduced a bill to Governor Ron DeSantis that would allow the Florida Executive Commission, which he oversees, to introduce additional legislation. $18 billion national pension To alternative investments such as hedge funds and private equity. That may raise the question of DeSantis. Can receive campaign donations from financial executives.
EU member states have approved the world’s most extensive cryptocurrency regulation to date. This rule stipulates that companies that issue, trade, and manage crypto assets in 27 countries: get license As early as 2024. From 2026, the names of senders and beneficiaries must be disclosed in cryptocurrency transactions. The move could put pressure on other countries, including the United States, to adopt similar rules to regulate the industry.
Is the debt ceiling on track? Questions remain.
Markets looked volatile this morning as warnings of a stalled Washington debt ceiling weighed heavily on investors.
To virtually no one’s surprise, negotiators were unable to come to an agreement yesterday. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy suggested a deal could still be reached “by the end of the week,” but majority leader Senator Chuck Schumer said he needed bipartisan support. Still, both sides agreed that a US default was out of the question.
Businesses are increasingly worried. 140+ Leaders Some big companies, including Goldman Sachs and Pfizer, have sent open letters to Congress warning of the “disastrous consequences” of a default.
Meanwhile, some Senate Democrats They question whether McCarthy can unite the caucuses and reach a deal. They fear House Republicans will insist on drastic spending cuts to address the country’s $31.4 trillion debt.
The debt ceiling conflict poses a far greater threat to the economy than debt, claim Stephanie Kelton is an economics professor at Stony Brook University. He told Dealbook that the debate over the debt ceiling was “terrifying” compared to past years, but he hoped a deal could be reached.
U.S. debt is basically no That’s a problem, argues Kelton. This argument is essentially rooted in her support of modern monetary theory, which argues that government debt doesn’t matter if the government can print its own currency. In other words, America should spend more on social programs because it can easily pay its debts and not go bankrupt. (The idea was hotly debated.)
The message has garnered support from progressive lawmakers like Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders and New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.So MMT Advocacy Could Be A Political Factor In The Debt Ceiling Struggle: Lawmakers Like Ocasio-Cortez Warning to President Biden He believed that he would not agree with Republican demands to cut government spending and risked backlash from the left.
“We asked Epstein for advice. The easiest way seems to be to transfer funds from one account in my name to another through his office.”
— Noam Chomsky, MIT Professor. When asked by The Wall Street Journal why, he said, Received approximately $270,000 from accounts linked to Jeffrey EpsteinMr Chomsky said the money was part of an effort to rebuild his family’s finances and did not involve “a penny” from a convicted sex offender.
Elon Musk tries to speak his mind
Elon Musk sat down for a talk yesterday. long interview After Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting, he met with CNBC, ostensibly to discuss the electric car business.
Instead, the billionaire has argued and refused to recant his often-controversial opinions on a wide range of topics.
Mr. Musk defended his tweets, even if it cost money. The tech mogul has come under fire in recent days for comparing George Soros to former X-Men villain Magneto. Weigh about whether the man accused of being behind the Dallas-area shopping mall shooting endorsed Nazi ideology.
“I will say what I want to say, and if it results in a loss, so be it,” Musk said.
This approach could make life difficult for Twitter’s next chief executive. Linda Yaccarino said social network advertising was in trouble after it was hit by both digital advertising’s slump and advertiser wariness over Musk’s job cuts and content moderation changes. Hired to help turn the business around.
Other highlights from the interview:
-
The billionaire once again mocked remote work and said,morally wrong‘, accusing highly paid knowledge workers (‘laptop class’ in his words) of driving it, even though field workers still have to show up in person. .
-
Musk said Twitter’s finances were tight from day one, claiming that the company had just $1 billion in bank deposits when it was acquired last fall and was using up $3 billion a year.
-
Tesla faces a tough 12 months ahead due to challenges such as high interest rates and consumer spending cuts. However, he praised his Cyber truck, which the company is about to launch.
-
Musk also shared concerns that the Fed is moving too slowly in cutting rates. He questioned whether there was some kind of fraud in the 2020 election, but confirmed it wasn’t stolen. And he said he is no longer friends with Google co-founder Larry Page because of their disagreements about the dangers of artificial intelligence.
The Times has released a new iOS app for audio journalism featuring podcasts, articles from journalists, columnists and pundits on business, politics, technology and more. The app, now available to Times News subscribers, Downloaded from here.
speed reading
Information of sale
policy
best of the rest
-
count Pandemic Dog Costs — Starts with a $250 monthly Goldendoodle wash, blow-dry, and nail clippings. (WSJ)
-
The NBA’s San Antonio Spurs secured the right to be the No. 1 pick in next month’s draft, widely speculated to be 19-year-old French star Victor Wenbanyama. (New York Times)
-
Michael Lewis talks about his forthcoming book, a profile of Sam Bankman-Fried, and how it felt when the fallen cryptocurrency mogul was arrested. (New York Times)
We appreciate your feedback. Please email your comments and suggestions to dealbook@nytimes.com.
