Senators: Only Companies With A Government-Approved License Should Be Able To Offer Generative AI Tools

Several senators suggested that generative AI tools should be restricted and that only companies with a government-approved license should be able to provide the software during a Tuesday Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled “Oversight of A.I.: Rules for Artificial Intelligence.” Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, testified during the hearing and agreed with the push for AI access to be restricted via licensing. During his opening statement, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) lamented that Congress failed to regulate social media and said: “Now we have the obligation to do it on AI before the threats and risks become real.” https://video.reclaimthenet.org/articles/blumenthal-ai-obligation.mp4 Blumenthal continued by proposing “limitations on use” where “the risk of AI is so extreme,” bans where the AI makes “decisions that affect people’s livelihoods.” He also called for AI companies to be held liable when they “cause harm.” https://video.reclaimthenet.org/articles/blumenthal-ai-limitations-bans.mp4 Altman noted that OpenAI makes “significant efforts to ensure that safety is built into our systems at all levels” in his opening statement. He added that GPT-4, the latest version of the large language model that powers OpenAI’s generative AI tool, ChatGPT, is more likely to refuse “harmful requests” than any other widely deployed model of similar capability. Altman then called for a US government licensing regime that applies to the development and release of AI models above a certain capability threshold. Additionally, he welcomed AI companies partnering with governments and said that as part of these partnerships, companies and governments should examine “opportunities for global coordination.” https://video.reclaimthenet.org/articles/sam-altman-ai-opening-statement.mp4 Altman’s written testimony,…Senators: Only Companies With A Government-Approved License Should Be Able To Offer Generative AI Tools