ICYMI: Biden-Harris Administration Secures Voluntary Commitments from Leading Artificial Intelligence Companies to Manage the Risks Posed by AI

Since taking office, President Biden, Vice President Harris, and the entire Biden-Harris Administration have moved with urgency to seize the tremendous promise and manage the risks posed by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and to protect Americans' rights and safety.

As part of this commitment, President Biden yesterday convened seven leading AI companies at the White House – Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI – to announce that the Biden-Harris Administration has secured voluntary commitments from these companies to help move toward safe, secure, and transparent development of AI technology.

These commitments, which the companies have chosen to undertake immediately, underscore three principles that must be fundamental to the future of AI – safety, security, and trust – and mark a critical step toward developing responsible AI. As the pace of innovation continues to accelerate, the Biden-Harris Administration will continue to remind these companies of their responsibilities and take decisive action to keep Americans safe.

There is much more work underway. The Biden-Harris Administration is currently developing an executive order and will pursue bipartisan legislation to help America lead the way in responsible innovation.

Read coverage below:

Associated Press: Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and other tech firms agree to AI safeguards set by the White House
[Matt O'Brien and Zeke Miller, 7/21/23]

Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and other companies that are leading the development of artificial intelligence technology have agreed to meet a set of AI safeguards brokered by President Joe Biden's administration. The White House said Friday that it has secured voluntary commitments from seven U.S. companies meant to ensure their AI products are safe before they release them. Some of the commitments call for third-party oversight of the workings of commercial AI systems, though they don't detail who will audit the technology or hold the companies accountable.

New York Times: 7 A.I. Companies Will Agree to Safeguards After Pressure from the White House
[Michael D. Shear, Cecilia Kang, and David E. Sanger, 7/21/23]

Seven leading A.I. companies in the United States have agreed to voluntary safeguards on the technology's development, the White House announced on Friday, pledging to manage the risks of the new tools even as they compete over the potential of artificial intelligence. The seven companies — Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI — will formally announce their commitment to new standards in the areas of safety, security and trust at a meeting with President Biden at the White House on Friday afternoon. The announcement comes as the companies are racing to outdo each other with versions of A.I. that offer powerful new ways to create text, photos, music and video without human input. But the technological leaps have prompted fears about the spread of disinformation and dire warnings of a "risk of extinction" as self-aware computers evolve.

CNN: Leading AI companies commit to outside testing of AI systems and other safety commitments
[Jeremy Diamond, 7/21/23]

Microsoft, Google and other leading artificial intelligence companies committed Friday to put new AI systems through outside testing before they are publicly released and to clearly label AI-generated content, the White House announced. The pledges are part of a series of voluntary commitments agreed to by the White House and seven leading AI companies – which also include Amazon, Meta, OpenAI, Anthropic and Inflection – aimed at making AI systems and products safer and more trustworthy while Congress and the White House develop more comprehensive regulations to govern the rapidly growing industry. President Joe Biden will meet with top executives from all seven companies at the White House on Friday.

Washington Post: Top tech firms sign White House pledge to identify AI-generated images
[Cat Zakrzewski, 7/21/23]

The White House on Friday announced that seven of the most influential companies building artificial intelligence have agreed to a voluntary pledge to mitigate the risks of the emerging technology, escalating the Biden administration's involvement in the growing debate over AI regulation. The companies — which include Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta and Chat GPT-maker OpenAI — vowed to allow independent security experts to test their systems before they are released to the public and committed to sharing data about the safety of their systems with the government and academics. The firms also pledged to develop systems to alert the public when an image, video or text is created by artificial intelligence, a method known as "watermarking."

Reuters: OpenAI, Google, others pledge to watermark AI content for safety -White House
[Diane Bartz, Krystal Hu, 7/21/23]

AI companies including OpenAI, Alphabet and Meta Platforms have made voluntary commitments to the White House to implement measures such as watermarking AI-generated content to help make the technology safer, the Biden administration said. The companies - which also include Anthropic, Inflection, Amazon.com and OpenAI partner Microsoft - pledged to thoroughly test systems before releasing them and share information about how to reduce risks and invest in cybersecurity. The move is seen as a win for the Biden administration's effort to regulate the technology which has experienced a boom in investment and consumer popularity.

The Wall Street Journal: White House Says Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft Agree to AI Safeguards
[Sabrina Siddiqui and Deepa Seetharaman, 7/21/23]

The Biden administration says it has reached a deal with big tech companies to put more guardrails around artificial intelligence, including the development of a watermarking system to help users identify AI-generated content, as part of its efforts to rein in misinformation and other risks of the rapidly growing technology. The White House said seven major AI companies— Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta Platforms, Microsoft and OpenAI—are making voluntary commitments that also include testing their AI systems' security and capabilities before their public release, investing in research on the technology's risks to society, and facilitating external audits of vulnerabilities in their systems.

Axios: Axios interview: Zients says Biden will push for more AI authority
[Mike Allen, 7/21/23]

White House chief of staff Jeff Zients told Axios in an interview that President Biden will push Congress for more authority and resources to monitor and regulate the mushrooming AI industry. Why it matters: The White House on Friday is unveiling voluntary commitments by seven top AI companies on safety, security and trust. Biden aides are vowing to hold the tech giants to account rather than banking on self-regulation. What they're saying: "We need to make sure we're pulling every lever of the federal government to regulate and take action — and work with the Hill on legislation," Zients said. "We will need legislation to build the capacity to have the experts that we need in the federal government, and then to have the regulatory authority to hold the private sector accountable — and to hardwire these actions so that they're enduring," he added.

NBC News: Top AI companies agree to work together toward transparency and safety, White House says
[Kevin Collier, 7/21/23]

Seven leading artificial intelligence companies have agreed to a handful of industry best practices, a first step toward more meaningful regulation, the White House announced Thursday. The companies — Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI — have agreed to the principles that include security, transparency with the public and testing of their products internally before debuting them to the public. In a call with reporters Wednesday evening previewing the announcement, a White House official, who requested to not be named as part of the terms of the call, said that President Joe Biden will eventually sign an executive order more strongly regulating AI, though officials are still working out the details.

NPR: The White House and big tech companies release commitments on managing AI
[Deepa Shivaram, 7/21/23]

Presidents and CEOs from leading tech companies that are creating artificial intelligence have agreed to several commitments on sharing, testing and developing new AI technology, the White House says. Seven companies — Google, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, OpenAI, Anthropic and Inflection — will meet at the White House Friday to announce the voluntary agreements. President Biden will also be making remarks. "U.S. companies lead the world in innovation, and they have a responsibility to do that and continue to do that, but they have an equal responsibility to ensure that their products are safe, secure and trustworthy," White House chief of staff Jeff Zients told NPR in an interview.

Bloomberg: Biden Vows Vigilance on AI as Tech Firms Promise Safeguards
[Justin Sink and Anna Edgerton, 7/21/23]

President Joe Biden said the US must guard against threats from artificial intelligence as he detailed new company safeguards and promised additional government actions on the emerging technology. "These commitments are real and are concrete. They're going to help the industry fulfill its fundamental obligation to Americans to develop safe, secure and trustworthy technologies that benefit society and uphold our values," Biden said Friday.

UPI News: White House gets commitments from tech giants on 'safe, secure, and transparent' AI
[A.L. Lee, 7/21/23]

The White House on Friday announced commitments from the leaders of seven U.S. tech giants to take a responsible approach to developing artificial intelligence for ethical purposes. President Joe Biden will meet Friday with executives from Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI, whose voluntary commitments were part of a growing federal effort to ensure "safe, secure, and transparent development of AI technology," the White House said in a statement. Biden was also readying an executive order that would further limit the risks of the emerging technology, while also preparing to deliver legislation to Congress that seeks to protect the nation from AI's harmful potential.

Politico: White House notches AI agreement with top tech firms
[Mohar Chatterjee, 7/21/23]

President Joe Biden will meet with the CEOs and presidents of seven of the largest AI tech companies Friday to mark a nonbinding agreement that will govern how artificial intelligence is developed and released to the public. Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft, and OpenAI all agreed to a set of eight rules Friday, which include external testing of AI systems before their release, investing in cybersecurity protection for unreleased models and using a watermarking system for AI-generated content. The list of attendees includes Microsoft President Brad Smith, Meta President Nick Clegg, and Google President Kent Walker.

CNBC: White House secures voluntary pledges from Microsoft, Google to ensure A.I. tools are secure
[Lauren Feiner, 7/21/23]

Seven top artificial intelligence companies, including Google, Microsoft and OpenAI, will convene at the White House on Friday, pledging to create ways for consumers to identify AI-generated materials and test their tools for security before public release. Amazon, Anthropic, Inflection and Meta round out the group of prospective attendees. The seven companies each agreed Friday to a set of voluntary commitments in developing AI technology.

Financial Times: Tech companies to make AI safety and transparency pledges to White House
[Lauren Fedor, 7/21/23]

US technology companies including Google and OpenAI are set to publicly commit to promote safety and transparency in the development of artificial intelligence at the White House on Friday. The White House says the executives from Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection AI, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI will make "voluntary" commitments "to help move toward safe, secure and transparent development of AI technology". The commitments — which include agreeing to internal and external security testing of AI systems before they are released to the public — come less than three months after the Biden administration convened tech executives at the White House for what was described as a "frank discussion" about safety concerns relating to AI.

The Hill: White House gets top AI companies to commit to responsible development
[Julie Mueller, 7/21/23]

The Biden administration has secured voluntary commitments geared at managing the risks posed by artificial intelligence from seven top companies, the White House announced. Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Facebook parent company Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI have made the voluntary commitments, which include a pledge to develop mechanisms of watermarking to help users determine when audio and visual content is AI-generated, according to a White House official.

Washington Examiner: Leading tech companies give White House commitment on AI safety guardrails
[Christopher Hutton, 7/21/23]

The Biden administration has secured voluntary commitments geared at managing the risks posed by artificial intelligence from seven top companies, the White House announced. Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Facebook parent company Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI have made the voluntary commitments, which include a pledge to develop mechanisms of watermarking to help users determine when audio and visual content is AI-generated, according to a White House official.

Roll Call: Companies have pledged safe AI development, White House says
[Gopal Ratnam, 7/21/23]

The Biden administration said it has received voluntary commitments from the world's largest developers of artificial intelligence systems that the companies would pursue development in a safe and secure manner. Google, Amazon, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft, Anthropic and OpenAI have committed to developing such technologies in a "safe, secure, and transparent" manner, a White House official told reporters Thursday on the condition of anonymity, while discussing a meeting taking place Friday between the top executives of the companies and administration officials.

The Verge: Meta, Google, and OpenAI reveal their safety plans following White House summit
[Makena Kelly, 7/21/23]

Seven of AI's top companies attended a White House summit Friday, reaching a deal with the Biden administration to roll out new guardrails to enhance the safety and security of their systems and users, like watermarking AI-generated content. "These commitments are real, and they are concrete," President Joe Biden said in remarks at the White House Friday following the meeting. "Artificial intelligence is going to change the lives of people around the world. The people here will be critical for shepherding that innovation with responsibility and safety by design."

US News: Top Tech Firms Make Pledge to White House Over Development of AI
[Lauren Camera, 7/21/23]

Leaders of the country's biggest tech firms are set to join President Joe Biden at the White House on Friday to formalize a voluntary commitment that they will prioritize safety, security and transparency as their teams develop artificial intelligence software – a controversial, rapidly-growing industry that the federal government has yet to regulate. "To make the most of AI's potential the Biden-Harris administration is holding this industry to the highest standards to ensure that innovation doesn't come at the expense of Americans' rights and safety," a White House official told reporters ahead of the event. "The companies developing these emerging technologies have an obligation to behave responsibly and ensure their products are safe."

Variety: Google, Meta, OpenAI, Other Tech Companies Promise to Comply With White House's AI Safety Framework to 'Protect Americans From Harm and Discrimination'
[Todd Spangler, 7/21/23]

Amid deep concerns about the risks posed by artificial intelligence, the Biden administration has lined up commitments from seven tech companies — including OpenAI, Google and Meta — to abide by safety, security and trust principles in developing AI.Reps from seven "leading AI companies" — Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI — are scheduled to attend an event Friday at the White House to announce that the Biden-Harris administration has secured voluntary commitments from the companies to "help move toward safe, secure, and transparent development of AI technology," according to the White House.

Observer: Top A.I. Executives Agree to White House Safeguards
[Rachyl Jones, 7/21/23]

A group of seven companies leading the development of artificial intelligence have agreed to follow a list of safeguards recommended by the White House, the Biden administration announced in a release today (July 21). Companies include Meta (META), Google, Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT). The commitment is immediate, but it is voluntary and non-binding, so it isn't legally enforceable. As part of the agreement, the companies will participate in an independent review of their AI systems' security before they release the technology publicly. Companies have also agreed to share information about managing the risks of AI across the industry, with government and researchers, according to the release. OpenAI, Anthropic and Inflection AI have also pledged to follow the White House's safeguards.

CNBC: Squawk Box with Gina Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce

Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo: "We know it will take some time before Congress can pass a law to regulate A.I., but the President to his great credit, also knows we don't have time. A.I. Is moving so fast, faster than any technology we've ever seen. And so, about a month and a half ago the President brought these CEOs into the White House. We had an intense working session with them. We said to them, commit to us that you're going to protect us. They've responded to the leadership with these commitments… I want to be clear, this is tremendous and significant, and I applaud the President for his leadership, but it really is a first step and a bridge to regulation."

MSNBC: Morning Joe with John Kirby, the Coordinator of Strategic Communications at the National Security Council

Coordinator of Strategic Communications at the National Security Council John Kirby: "First of all, these seven companies are some of the most impactful in the AI ecosystem, and they will able to set standards that other actors and other companies will follow… "We're also going to work with Congress. The President intends to work with Congress on an executive order that can pursue legislation, that can help us codify this across the country and also give us the tools to hold bad actors accountable."