OpenAI laid out a series of new artificial intelligence (AI) policy proposals Monday, encouraging U.S. development of the emerging technology to stay ahead of China while minimizing its risks.
“As AI becomes more advanced, we believe America needs to act now to maximize the technology’s possibilities while minimizing its harms,” Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s vice president of global affairs, wrote in the foreword of the company’s “Economic Blueprint,” released Monday.
The 15-page blueprint comes as the 119th Congress gets underway, and President-elect Trump prepares to head back to office in nearly a week.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is one of several tech leaders who have expressed an openness to working with Trump and his administration, which includes an AI and crypto czar, on AI policy.
Altman donated $1 million of his personal funds to Trump’s inaugural fund, stating last month the president-elect will “lead out country into the age of AI.”
OpenAI, the maker of the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, made clear Monday the U.S. must take advantage of global investments to prevent China from getting ahead in the AI development space.
“Chips, data, energy and talent are the keys to winning on AI—and this is a race America can and must win.,” the company wrote. “There’s an estimated $175 billion sitting in global funds awaiting investment in AI projects, and if the US doesn’t attract those funds, they will flow to China-backed projects—strengthening the Chinese Communist Party’s global influence.”
While OpenAI has pushed for U.S. development in the industry, some policymakers have expressed concerns over the risks of unregulated AI, including issues related to privacy, copyright, bias and more.
The company on Monday said it wants to work with policymakers to guarantee “AI’s benefits are shared responsibly and equitably.”
“We believe America needs to act now to maximize AI’s possibilities while minimizing its harms,” Lehane wrote in the foreword. “AI is too powerful a technology to be led and shaped by autocrats, but that is the growing risk we face, while the economic opportunity AI presents is too compelling to forfeit.”
As part of the push, Altman will convene a gathering in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 30 to preview “the state of AI advancement and how it can drive economic growth,” OpenAI said. The event is part of the company’s larger launch of its “Innovating for America” initiative to engage with individual U.S. states.
