Biden met with tech company CEOs and used ChatGPT himself

President Joe Biden attended an artificial intelligence conference at the White House on Thursday, meeting with the chief executive officers (CEOs) of top artificial intelligence (AI) companies including Google, Microsoft and OpenAI to discuss the risks posed by AI technology and the corresponding protective measures.

A White House official revealed that Biden attended the meeting "in passing" and that he also used ChatGPT. "Biden has been fully informed about ChatGPT and has experimented with it himself."

Generative AI has become a buzzword this year, with applications such as ChatGPT catching the public's eye and related companies launching similar products that tens of millions of users have started using.

However, the resulting risks cannot be ignored, and there is growing concern that these technologies may violate privacy, lead to mass unemployment, fraud, and spread misinformation, among other things.

The meeting, which reportedly lasted two hours, included Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic co-founder Dario Amodei, as well as Vice President Harris and a host of key administration officials, including White House Chief of Staff Jeffrey Zientz, Commerce Secretary Raimondo, National Security Affairs Assistant Jack Sullivan, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Arati Prabhakar, and National Economic Council Chairman Lyle Brainard.

Companies have responsibility to ensure product safety

In a statement, Harris said artificial intelligence technology has the potential to improve lives, but it can also raise security, privacy and civil rights concerns. She told the tech executives that they have a "legal responsibility" to ensure the safety of their AI products and that the government is open to legislation on AI.

After the White House AI meeting, Sam Altman said companies are in agreement on what needs to happen with AI (meaning issues such as safety regulation) and I support moving forward with new AI regulation and support new legislation.

White House press secretary Jean-Pierre said the meeting was "honest" and "frank. "The fact that we have four chief executives here meeting with the vice president and the president shows how much we take this seriously."

Jean-Pierre added that the need for greater transparency by AI companies, including the ability for the public to assess and measure their products, is critical to ensuring safety and confidence in AI systems.

Prior to the meeting, the White House announced that the National Science Foundation plans to spend $140 million to establish a new research center dedicated to AI. The administration has also pledged to issue draft guidelines for government agencies to ensure that the use of artificial intelligence safeguards "the rights and safety of the American people. Several AI companies have agreed to make their products available for review at a cybersecurity conference in August.

The U.S. government is not alone in seeking to shape the development of artificial intelligence. EU officials expect to finalize AI legislation as early as this year, which could have a major impact on AI companies worldwide.

Earlier Thursday, the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) confirmed that it is launching a review of the AI market, which also includes basic models including big language models and generative AI.