The Biden administration said Friday that industry leader Apple has joined the ranks of top tech companies, signing a pledge to make artificial intelligence tools safe.
The administration said Apple’s voluntary commitment is a critical building block, “further cementing these commitments as cornerstones of responsible AI innovation.”
The Big Tech company joins other major players agreeing to the White House’s agenda, including Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI among several others.
The announcement from the White House comes as part of a progress report on the federal government’s efforts to implement President Biden’s executive order on AI issued in October 2023.
The administration said federal agencies completed all tasks that the order required to be accomplished within 270 days, and credited Vice President Kamala Harris, now the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, with helping meet the deadlines.
“Following the executive order and a series of calls to action made by Vice President Harris as part of her major policy speech before the Global Summit on AI Safety, agencies all across government have acted boldly,” a White House fact sheet said. “They have taken steps to mitigate AI’s safety and security risks, protect Americans’ privacy, advance equity and civil rights, stand up for consumers and workers, promote innovation and competition, advance American leadership around the world, and more.”
Forthcoming action from the Biden administration on AI will include a Commerce Department report detailing the “potential benefits, risks and implications of dual-use foundation models.” The report will include policy recommendations.
Other Biden administration regulators are not waiting to see how their policy prescriptions are perceived and are working to take action now.
Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Lina Khan and Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter joined officials from Europe and the U.K. earlier this month to unveil plans to coordinate regulation of the expanding AI industry. The FTC also announced it is probing eight American businesses’ AI usage in determining prices, although the government has made no allegation of wrongdoing by the companies.
Concerted action from federal agencies on AI is expected to be announced publicly soon.
U.S. Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute Director Elizabeth Kelly is expected to share details of her team’s “strategic vision” at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event on Wednesday.
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Arati Prabhakar, meanwhile, is set to make the case for more government spending on AI research and development in remarks at the Brookings Institution on Tuesday.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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