Elon Musk says AI ‘referee’ needed after tech CEOs meet US lawmakers
- The Tesla boss, Meta’s Zuckerberg and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and others took part in a closed-door forum focused on regulating artificial intelligence
- Lawmakers want safeguards against potentially dangerous deepfakes such as bogus videos, election interference and attacks on critical infrastructure
American technology leaders including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai met US lawmakers at Capitol Hill on Wednesday for a closed-door forum that focused on regulating artificial intelligence.
Lawmakers are grappling with how to mitigate the dangers of the emerging technology, which has experienced a boom in investment and consumer popularity since the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot.
“It’s important for us to have a referee,” Musk told reporters, adding that a regulator was needed “to ensure that companies take actions that are safe and in the general interest of the public”.
New Jersey Senator Cory Booker praised the discussion, saying all the participants agreed “the government has a regulatory role” but crafting legislation would be a challenge.
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Lawmakers want safeguards against potentially dangerous deepfakes such as bogus videos, election interference and attacks on critical infrastructure.
“Today, we begin an enormous and complex and vital undertaking: building a foundation for bipartisan AI policy that Congress can pass,” US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, said in opening remarks. “Congress must play a role, because without Congress we will neither maximise AI’s benefits, nor minimise its risks.”
