Late last month, the World Economic Forum and AI Commons convened an important event, Responsible AI Leadership: Global Summit on Generative AI. As we’ve noted here before, recent AI innovations have spurred healthy discussions around the ethics of AI and the need for public policies that support responsible AI.
Natasha Crampton, Microsoft’s Chief Responsible AI Officer, attended the Summit and discusses Microsoft’s multi-pronged approach to “walking the walk of responsible AI” in a new Microsoft on the Issues blog post. Ms. Crampton notes that Microsoft has nearly 350 people working on responsible AI, including company leadership. While Microsoft is intent on being a responsible AI leader, she notes that, “It will take ongoing collaboration and open exchanges between governments, academia, civil society, and industry to ground our progress toward the shared goal of AI that is in service of people and society.” We encourage you to read the entire blog, which includes links to responsible AI resources.
Thank you for your continued interest in tech policy developments. Our news highlights and a featured podcast appear below.
This Week in Washington
- Semafor: The CHIPS and Science Act is propelling the U.S. forward after falling behind in the microchip war. The act will revive the domestic semiconductor industry and help it become independent and reliable.
- Reuters: The Biden administration outlined its efforts to address concerns over U.S. data protections. These include preventative measures and hiring additional employees to identify companies that may be a threat.
- Fierce Telecom: The NTIA released guidance for their Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program to help states navigate the challenge process and better identify unserved and underserved areas. This new guidance builds upon their Notice of Funding Opportunity released last May.
- AP News: A bipartisan group of Senators, who are also parents, introduced legislation that would prevent kids under the age of 13 from joining social media sites, and require parental consent for those under 18. They believe this legislation represents the concerns of parents across the U.S.
- POLITICO and Axios: While members of Congress agree that there needs to be legislation to reign in and regulate AI, they can’t seem to agree on a course of action. As Congress continues to plan its next step, the Biden administration is moving forward with AI-related executive actions.
- StateScoop: The Benton Institute for Broadband and Society developed a mapping tool to show where people have signed up for the Affordable Connectivity Program. This tool will help communities see how their sign-ups are going, and where new sign-ups may be coming from.
Article Summary
- The Record: Across the U.S., colleges and schools are feeling the impact of ransomware attacks and other cybersecurity incidents. Some have had to shut down their systems to protect their data.
- Wall Street Journal: With social media shopping scams growing, it’s leading many to question how the platforms vet sellers and those they allow to post ads.
- Fast Company: Khan Academy has created and begun testing their version of ChatGPT called Khanmigo, which they believe can help students. Their tool helps guide students through work instead of allowing them to cheat and provide answers.
- TechCrunch: A number of city servers in Dallas, Texas had been compromised by a ransomware attack by the Royal ransomware gang. This forced the city to shut down key services including their 911 dispatch system.
Featured Podcast
Security
- The Security Podcast
New technologies such as AI have shifted conversations around best practices for password management. As much as AI can be a great help to protecting credentials, there have also been instances of it making it easier for cybercriminals to hack into accounts. Find out more in this episode of the Security podcast with Parteek Saran, founder and CEO of Uno. In this episode, Saran discusses the impact of human error and the need for complex passwords. Saran also encourages security leaders to properly train their employees on how to best protect their credentials. (How AI and other technologies have changed password management – April 7, 2023)