The artificial intelligence industry reverses from regulations. Ethics loses its importance
Now Altman believes that the possible requirement to obtain the government's consent to implement advanced AI software would – in his opinion – “catastrophic” to build the advantage of the United States in this field.
The spectacular return of the Altman embodies a deeper change in the narrative in the Silicon Valley and the corridors of power in Washington. Alarming warnings about existential risk and appeals for quick, preventive regulations have almost disappeared.
Their place took The belief that the United States must allow companies to develop artificial intelligence even fasterso as not to lose their advantage over China and cash the economic potential of technology. “To lead to AI, we cannot allow regulations – even allegedly mild – choke innovations” – emphasized the chairman of the commission Senator Ted Cruz at the start of the hearing.
And developed faster than in China
The administration of Donald Trump, which has been conducting a more liberal technological policy since January, fought to such a position.
Already on the first day of the new term of office, Trump annulled the extensive regulation of his predecessor, ordering security tests of the most powerful models and the transfer of results to the government. A few months later, the administration also withdrew from the plan of sharp limitations of integrated circuits exports, opening the way to free semiconductor trade.
As a result of this volty, lobbyists and entrepreneurs, who during the time of Biden administration demanded the appropriate rules of the game, today openly oppose new restrictions. Brad Smith from Microsoft, once a supporter of the Federal Agency for AI, at the Thursday meeting He appealed for “delicate” regulations and indicated as the main barrier to development … the waiting time for building permits for new data centers.
Google Deepmind, on the other hand, gave up his many years of ban on participating in military projects, and OpenAI, Meta and Anthropic deleted the provisions excluding cooperation with the army from internal policies.
Ethics in AI? Goes to the background
A diametrical change raises the opposition of technological ethics experts. Rumman Chowdhury, a special envoy of the AI State Department, calls the entire strategy “Bait and Switch”. According to her The industry has transferred the attention of politicians to the futuristic visions of superintelligence, to finally convince them that the biggest threat is … lost to China.
In practice – indicates Chowdhury – real damage, such as racial prejudices in algorithms or mass abuse of image generators, still remain unanswered by legislators. One of the few exceptions is the supra -party act penalizing the publication of non -consumer erotic materials, including those generated by AI.
Critics of the deregulation course go on. Max Tegmark with myth He points out that “a bar with sandwiches opposite OpenAI” must meet the strict sanitary requirements before selling the first baguetteand AI companies introduce tools to the world with the potential power of superintelligence, without respect for copyright and ethics. Tegmark, like other researchers, counts that the burden of scientific evidence will convince politicians to introduce a legal framework.
For now, however, billionaires give tone. Anyway, the atmosphere that prevailed during this year's AI summit in Paris differed from the one from a year and a half in Bletchley Park. There, the priority was “protection of humanity”, in the French capital – acceleration of development.
JD Vance vice president warned that excessive regulations can kill a breakthrough sector when he is gaining momentum, and The European Union soon softened the project of its own AI ACTU.
In the long run, will enthusiasm be beneficial, or will the lack of brakes lead to the outbreak of subsequent crises, including on the labor market? For now, politicians and regulators are washing their hands. One thing is certain. The AI industry, which herself called on to create warning signs, today chooses the expressway. And she counts that the state will not put any lights to her.
