In a brand new report, a California-based coverage group co-led by Fei-Fei Li, an AI pioneer, means that lawmakers ought to contemplate AI dangers that “haven’t but been noticed on the planet” when crafting AI regulatory insurance policies.
The 41-page interim report launched on Tuesday comes from the Joint California Policy Working Group on Frontier AI Models, an effort organized by Governor Gavin Newsom following his veto of California’s controversial AI security invoice, SB 1047. While Newsom discovered that SB 1047 missed the mark, he acknowledged final 12 months the necessity for a extra in depth evaluation of AI dangers to tell legislators.
In the report, Li, together with co-authors UC Berkeley College of Computing Dean Jennifer Chayes and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace President Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, argue in favor of legal guidelines that may improve transparency into what frontier AI labs akin to OpenAI are constructing. Industry stakeholders from throughout the ideological spectrum reviewed the report earlier than its publication, together with staunch AI security advocates like Turing Award winner Yoshua Benjio in addition to those that argued towards SB 1047, akin to Databricks Co-Founder Ion Stoica.
According to the report, the novel dangers posed by AI programs might necessitate legal guidelines that may power AI mannequin builders to publicly report their security assessments, information acquisition practices, and safety measures. The report additionally advocates for elevated requirements round third-party evaluations of those metrics and company insurance policies, along with expanded whistleblower protections for AI firm workers and contractors.
Li et al. write there’s an “inconclusive degree of proof” for AI’s potential to assist perform cyberattacks, create organic weapons, or result in different “excessive” threats. They additionally argue, nonetheless, that AI coverage shouldn’t solely handle present dangers, however anticipate future penalties which may happen with out enough safeguards.
“For instance, we don’t want to watch a nuclear weapon [exploding] to foretell reliably that it may and would trigger in depth hurt,” the report states. “If those that speculate about probably the most excessive dangers are proper — and we’re unsure if they are going to be — then the stakes and prices for inaction on frontier AI at this present second are extraordinarily excessive.”
The report recommends a two-pronged technique to spice up AI mannequin growth transparency: belief however confirm. AI mannequin builders and their workers ought to be supplied avenues to report on areas of public concern, the report says, akin to inner security testing, whereas additionally being required to submit testing claims for third-party verification.
While the report, the ultimate model of which is due out in June 2025, endorses no particular laws, it’s been effectively obtained by specialists on either side of the AI policymaking debate.
Dean Ball, an AI-focused analysis fellow at George Mason University who was important of SB 1047, stated in a submit on X that the report was a promising step for California’s AI security regulation. It’s additionally a win for AI security advocates, in keeping with California State Senator Scott Wiener, who launched SB 1047 final 12 months. Wiener stated in a press launch that the report builds on “pressing conversations round AI governance we started within the legislature [in 2024].”
The report seems to align with a number of parts of SB 1047 and Wiener’s follow-up invoice, SB 53, akin to requiring AI mannequin builders to report the outcomes of security assessments. Taking a broader view, it appears to be a much-needed win for AI security people, whose agenda has misplaced floor within the final 12 months.
