Apple announced Friday that it will voluntarily adopt safeguards for artificial intelligence — joining other tech giants including OpenAI, Amazon, Google parent company Alphabet and Meta in complying with the Biden administration’s guidelines aimed at minimizing national security risks.
In July 2023, the Biden administration announced that it had secured voluntary commitments from seven major AI companies that pledged to “contribute to the safe, secure, and transparent development” of the technology.
Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI were the first seven companies to sign on to the administration’s initiative.
Companies are encouraged to transparently share the results of tests that measure compliance with safety and anti-discrimination regulations.
Apple joined its tech rivals after announcing last month that it would integrate AI features into its flagship products, including the iPhone, iPad and Mac.
The Cupertino, California-based giant has announced a new round of free software updates dubbed “Apple Intelligence” in a bid to catch up with other Silicon Valley rivals like Microsoft and Google, which have made giant strides in the AI arms race.
At its annual World Wide Developers conference last month, Apple said it would rely on OpenAI’s ChatGPT to make its Siri virtual assistant smarter and more useful.
The optional Siri to ChatGPT gateway will be free for all iPhone users and will be available on other Apple products once the option is integrated into the next generation of Apple’s operating systems.
ChatGPT subscribers are expected to be able to easily sync their existing accounts when using the iPhone and should enjoy more advanced features than free users.
Apple’s full suite of upcoming features will only work on the latest iPhone, iPad, and Mac models, as the devices require advanced processors.
For example, consumers will need last year’s iPhone 15 Pro or the next model coming later this year to take full advantage of Apple’s AI package, though all the tools will work on Macs dating back to 2020 after installing that computer’s next operating system.
Rapid advances in AI technology have sparked debate among technology watchers about the possible risks to the economy, national security, and even the survival of the human race.
Last month, a group of AI whistleblowers claimed that Google and OpenAI were endangering humanity as they rushed to develop the new technology.
Signed by current and former employees of OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic, the open letter warned that “AI companies have strong financial incentives to avoid effective oversight” and cited a lack of federal regulations on the development of advanced AI.
“Companies are rushing to develop and deploy ever more powerful artificial intelligence, without considering the risks and impacts of AI,” Daniel Kokotajlo, a former OpenAI employee and one of the letter’s organizers, said in a statement.
“I decided to leave OpenAI because I had lost hope that they would act responsibly, especially in their pursuit of general artificial intelligence.”
Government and private sector researchers fear that U.S. adversaries could use these models, which mine vast amounts of text and images to summarize information and generate content, to launch aggressive cyberattacks or even create powerful biological weapons.
With pole wires
New York Post
