Vice Presidential Pool Reports of November 1, 2023

VP Supplemental Pool , Vice President Kamala Harris trip to London, . Pool # 1

Press pool left the hotel at 1:07 on way to the US embassy through leafy and almost empty London's streets under a light rain. Few pedestrians were taking photos.

VP Harris is giving a speech on vision for the future of AI, speech is live-steamed at whitehous.gov/live.

Excerpts from the Vice President's Speech As Prepared
"President Biden and I believe that all leaders, from government, civil society, and the private sector have a moral, ethical, and societal duty to make sure AI is adopted and advanced in a way that protects the public from potential harm and ensures that everyone is able to enjoy its benefits."
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"But just as AI has the potential to do profound good, it also has the potential to cause profound harm, from AI-enabled cyber-attacks at a scale beyond anything we have seen before to AI-formulated bioweapons that could endanger the lives of millions. These threats are often referred to as the "existential threats of AI," because they could endanger the very existence of humanity. These threats are, without question, profound, and demand global action. But let us be clear: there are additional threats that also demand our action, threats that are currently causing harm and which, to many people, also feel existential…

"…Accordingly, to define AI safety we must consider and address the full spectrum of AI risk—threats to humanity as a whole, threats to individuals, to our communities and to our institutions, and threats to our most vulnerable populations. To make sure AI is safe, we must manage all these dangers."
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"So, the urgency of this moment must compel us to create a collective vision of what this future must be. A future where AI is used to advance human rights and human dignity; where privacy is protected and people have equal access to opportunity; where we make our democracies stronger and our world safer. A future where AI is used to advance the public interest. That is the future
President Joe Biden and I are building."
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"These voluntary [company] commitments are an initial step toward a safer AI future, with more to come. As history has shown in the absence of regulation and strong government oversight, some technology companies choose to prioritize profit over: The wellbeing of their customers; The security of our communities; and the stability of our democracies. One important way to address these challenges—in addition to the work we have already done—is through legislation—legislation that strengthens AI safety withoutstifling innovation…

"…We reject the false choice that suggests we can either protect the public or advance innovation. We can—and we must—do both. And we must do so swiftly, as this technology rapidly advances."

VP Supplemental Pool visit to London #2

From VP Office:

Background on The Vice President’s Speech (Attributable to a White House official on Background):

• The Vice President’s speech has three key goals and sections:
  • Defining AI Safety and urging the international community to address the full spectrum of risk, from potentially catastrophic risks to societal harms that are already happening such bias, discrimination and the proliferation of misinformation.
  • Providing the Biden-Harris Administration’s vision for the future of AI, one based on the public interest.
  • Outlining steps we have taken, and will take, to realize that future, which are a model for global action.
• The Vice President will announce a series of new U.S. initiatives on Wednesday to advance the safe and responsible use of AI, building on the October 30 Executive Order.

Defining AI Safety

• The Vice President will make clear that when we define AI safety, we must address the full spectrum of risks.

• We are aware that many voices in the debate on AI policymaking believe governments and the private sector should have an overriding focus on the catastrophic threats such as cyber-attacks or bioweapons, which are often referred to as existential threats.

• The United States believes these are indeed profound risks and there must be global action. But the Vice President is using her time in the United Kingdom to make the case that there are other harms that we also must address: harms that are happening here and now and which are affecting individuals and our communities every day, including those associated with bias and discrimination and mis- and dis-information. She is using her platform to highlight these harms to our society and democracy which AI has exacerbated, and urging global action on these risks. She believes we can and must address both categories of harm.

• When speaking about AI, the Vice President has often asked: existential to whom? What she is getting at is the fact that while the catastrophic risks that dominate the headlines are existential to humanity, the harms being felt right now can feel existential to individuals.

• The Vice President believes when it comes to the development, testing, and use of AI, we must be guided by core questions about who: whose biases are being written into the code? Whose interests are being served? Who reaps the reward of speedy adoption? Who suffers the harms most acutely? Who will be hurt if something goes wrong? Who has been at the table?

• The Vice President recognizes that history shows us that in times of great technological change, often times certain groups have been left out and left behind, whether that is workers, women, communities of color, or those people who do not live in the richest countries. She believes we must not repeat the mistakes of the past, and we must put in place rules and norms, regulations, and accountability measures now to get ahead of problems before they fester.

Vision

• The Vice President has made clear throughout her engagements and priorities that she is a future-focused leader. She believes leaders must present a vision for the future, thinking far out, and then take steps to make progress toward that vision today. She believes we cannot wait to take on the challenges of tomorrow.

• It is important for her to lay out the Administration’s vision—not just because it’s important to articulate, but because she is rallying the international community to subscribe to the same vision.

• Her vision is one where AI is used to advance the public interest.

• The Vice President believes it is the people’s interest that must be served by AI, not those of tech companies or authoritarian governments. We must put the people’s interests first. She is using her platform to fight for people—workers, consumer rights, privacy rights, and others.

• The Vice President is fighting to make sure that everyone is equally protected from the harms of AI and is able to equally access its benefits. She is fighting to for the freedom, prosperity and rights of the people.

• The Vice President will make clear that she believes in the power of innovation to make positive change in our communities. And she is putting forward a vision for AI where human rights are advanced; privacy is protected; we restrict the spread of mis and disinformation; we create economic opportunity for all; and where we make our democracies stronger.

Steps We Have Taken And Will Take

• The Vice President will connect the dots between all the actions we are taking, and how they all are contributing to a comprehensive approach to AI.

• She will forcefully make the case that the US is leading by example, and that the domestic actions we are taking are a model of the world.

• She will re-assert US global leadership on AI, recognizing that as with other challenges that impact global security and global prosperity, the United States plays a unique role of leadership and can catalyze global action in a way that only the United States can. She will make clear the United States will continue to lead.

• She will discuss the AI Bill of Rights, the Executive Order, and other new steps we are taking. She will outline our international commitments and how we are developing new rules and norms for AI to keep pace with innovation.

• She will discuss our collaboration with civil society and our engagement with the private sector. She’ll touch on the voluntary commitments she helped secure from the leading AI companies. And she’ll make clear that we are committed to hold companies accountable, on behalf of the people, in a way that does not stifle innovation.

VP Supplemental pool Vice President Kamala Harris trip to London Pool #3

Vice President Harris walked to the Podium at 1:44 pm, she thanked the US ambassador to the UK Jane D. Hartley and acknowledged the presence of former UK Prime Minister Theresa May.

There are around 250 guests representing the private sector, civil society, academia, and international partners.

She said she is looking forward to participate tomorrow with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the Global Summit to guarantee the safe and responsible use of AI.

She spoke behind a blue screen with the titled; " Artificial Intelligence: In Service of Public Interest. US flags were displayed on both side of the stage.

She ended her speech at 1:59 pm.

I will send you highlights of her speech shortly.

Next event is meet and greet with the US embassy staff which is closed press.

VP Supplemental pool , Vice President Kamala Harris trip to London Pool #4

Highlights of her speech at the US Embassy in London.

President Biden and I believe that all leaders from government, civil society and the private sector have a moral, ethical and societal duty to make sure that n is the job and then fast in a way that protects the public from potential harm.

Ensures that everyone is able to enjoy AI and it has the potential to develop powerful new medicines to treat any unwanted diseases that have regeneration plagued humanity to dramatically improve agricultural production to help address global food insecurity and to save countless lives and in the fight against the climate friends.

We must consider and address the full spectrum of AI risk threats to individual communities, and our most vulnerable.

Our administration will establish a national safety reporting program on the unsafe use of AI in hospitals and medical facilities.

Today I am announcing that 30 countries have joined our commitment to the responsible use of military AI. Civil societies have made a $200 million commitments to the goals., and I ask for more contribution.

Some technological companies choose to prioritize profit over the well being of their customers.

President Biden and I are committed to working with our partners in Congress to codify future meaningful AL and privacy protections.

We reject the false choice that suggest we can either protect the public or advance innovation.

VP Supplemental Pool - London Pool #5

The motorcade ride back to the hotel was uneventful except for the sun coming out and reflecting on London's most famous monuments.

We are holding at the hotel till 3:45 pm, pool will gather again to attend the arrival of VP Harris at 10 Downing Street. Prime Minister Sunak will greet her upon arrival.

Thanks to my co-pooler Erica Green who pointed out that the VP was joined by around of two dozens of her sorority AKAs, Alpha Kappa Alpha from Haward University. The ladies were dressed in pink and green to reflect the color of the sorority.

AKA is one of the nine college-founded black sororities and fraternities that comprise the Divine Nine.

Second Gentlemen Doug Emhoff was also in attendance during the speech.

VP Supplemental pool . Meetings with UK PM Sunak pool -# 6

Pool entered an empty room , with two white armchairs and two flags representing each country at 5:39 pm.

Prime Minister Sunak welcomed VP Harris on her first visit to 10 Downing Street , he said he was looking forward to discussing the global situation esp in Gaza , Israel and Ukraine without giving any details .

He also said that VP Harris is a leader when it comes to AI and looks forward to her participation at the summit tomorrow.

On Israel , Gaza, Ukraine:

" we will have a global conversation esp about what is happening in Israel and Gaza and our support for Ukraine against Russian aggression "

On AI:

"You are a leader on this topic and your speech today was incredibly significant "

Vice President Harris said that they both met for the first time in Munich when the PM was 4 months on the job , she stressed again that Hamas is a terrorist organization and said what they did on Oct 7 was horrendous , repeated that Israel has the right to defend itself and Hamas is not the Palestinian people.

On Ukraine:

"We discussed our support for Ukraine and our mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity ".

On Israel:

" I want to thank you, the United Kingdom for the position you took on Israel , of course Israel has the right to defend itself but also we must not conflate the people of Gaza with Hamas , what happened in Israel is horrendous by any measure , also rules of war must apply , it should not be any intentional targeting of civilians and humanitarian assistance needs to be met "

On IA

"I look forward to participating in this important summit "

The spray lasted under three minutes .

Your pooler shouted a question if both leaders support a ceasefire or if they would respond to the demonstrators outside who are calling for a ceasefire , both declined to answer .

Pool was led out of the room , no staff were present from either of the delegation.

Outside 10 Downing Street , your pooler saw a crowd of protesters carrying Palestinian flags and demanding ceasefire.

VP Harris will have dinner after the meeting with the President Minister and their spouses and the rest of the delegation. The event is closed press.

I hand over to my colleagues Erica Green who will be our pooler at the summit tomorrow.