Advocates Call for White House Action on AI Harms

Gabby Miller is a staff writer at Tech Policy Press. A photo of a badge and DefCon swag posted to the social media platform X on August 4, 2023 by the US Office of the National Cyber Director. Source On Thursday, amid the frenzy of two of the world’s largest hacking conferences hosted in tandem in Las Vegas, Nevada each year – Black Hat USA and Defcon – the White House officially launched its artificial intelligence (AI) hacking competition.  Civil society groups and tech safety advocates used these same events, however, to put pressure on the Biden administration as it teases a forthcoming AI executive order. The newly announced AI Cyber Challenge (AIxCC) is designed to spot software vulnerabilities to improve cybersecurity in the US as it frets over national security concerns posed by hostile governments. The Biden administration has posted nearly $20 million in prizes to be doled out over the next two years to top scoring teams in a multi-round, capture-the-flag style competition. The open competition is a partnership between top AI companies Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), an agency nestled within the Department of Defense that develops emerging technologies for the military.  This announcement is yet another example of the Biden White House expressing a sense of urgency in recent months to research and monitor the development and responsible use of AI. However, despite promises to pursue bipartisan legislation this fall, details are scant. President Biden says he plans to…Advocates Call for White House Action on AI Harms