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OpenAI quietly deletes ban on using ChatGPT for “military and warfare”

“Given the use of AI systems in the targeting of civilians in Gaza, it’s a notable moment to make the decision to remove the words ‘military and warfare’ from OpenAI’s permissible use policy,” said Sarah Myers West, managing director of the AI Now Institute and a former AI policy analyst at the Federal Trade Commission.

EU’s powerful AI Act is here. But is it too late?

AI Now Institute Executive Director Amba Kak spoke positively of the AI Act, telling PopSci it was a “crucial counterpoint in a year that has otherwise largely been a deluge of weak voluntary proposals.”

Generative AI is transforming businesses everywhere. Big Tech will still be crowned the winner.

In April, researchers at the AI Now Institute published a report that said AI development had been "foundationally reliant" on the resources held and controlled by the giants.

Make no mistake—AI is owned by Big Tech

If we’re not careful, Microsoft, Amazon, and other large companies will leverage their position to set the policy agenda for AI, as they have in many other sectors.

What the OpenAI drama means for AI progress — and safety

“The push to retain dominance is leading to toxic competition. It’s a race to the bottom,” says Sarah Myers West, managing director of the AI Now Institute, a policy-research organization based in New York City.

The AI Supply Chain: An Emerging Oligopoly?

The report was published ahead of a November 15 event hosted by the Open Markets Institute and the AI Now Institute Washington, DC.

The AI Debate Is Happening in a Cocoon

Existential risks—or x-risks, as they’re sometimes known in AI circles—evoke blockbuster science-fiction movies and play to many people’s deepest fears. But AI already poses economic and physical threats—ones that disproportionately harm society’s most vulnerable people.

The AI safety summit, and its critics

Amba Kak of the AI Now Institute, one of the few representatives of civil society at last week’s summit, said at the event’s conclusion that “we are at risk of further entrenching the dominance of a handful of private actors over our economy and our social institutions.”

Global leaders commit to pre-deployment AI safety testing

bal leaders commit to pre-deployment AI safety testing AI Now Institute executive director Amba Kak, one of three civil society representatives at the summit table, praised pre-deployment testing commitments, but warned, "We are at risk of further entrenching the dominance of a handful of private actors over our economy and our social institutions."

Will a new regulation on AI help tame the machine?

“We should just be able to say, ‘We don’t want that kind of AI to be used, period, it’s too harmful for the public,’” said West.

Global leaders commit to pre-deployment AI safety testing

AI Now Institute executive director Amba Kak, one of three civil society representatives at the summit table, praised pre-deployment testing commitments, but warned, "We are at risk of further entrenching the dominance of a handful of private actors over our economy and our social institutions."

U.K.’s AI Safety Summit Ends With Limited, but Meaningful, Progress

“There has been a complete industry capture of this conversation, and in many ways this summit reflects that,” says Amba Kak, the executive director of the AI Now Institute, a research group.

U.K.’s AI Safety Summit Ends With Limited, but Meaningful, Progress

“There has been a complete industry capture of this conversation, and in many ways this summit reflects that,” says Amba Kak, the executive director of the AI Now Institute, a research group. “The context to all of this is that we’re seeing a further concentration of power in the tech industry and, within that, a handful of actors. And if we let industry set the tone on AI policy, it’s not enough to say we want regulation—because we’re going to see regulation that further entrenches industry interests.”

AI Now Joins Civil Society Groups In Statement Calling For Regulation To Protect the Public

Biden signs executive order to oversee and invest in AI

“It’s great to see the White House set the tone on the issues that matter most to the public: labor, civil rights, protecting privacy, promoting competition,” Myers West said by text message. “This underscores you can’t deal with the future risks of AI without adequately dealing with the present.” 

Transcript: House Hearing on Safeguarding Data and Innovation

Amba Kak, executive director at AI Now Institute, advised the Committee to stay the course in prioritizing data privacy, consumer protection, and competition frameworks to govern and regulate AI effectively.

US House subcommittee dives into privacy, AI legislative recommendations

“We’re seeing new privacy threats emerge from AI systems; we talked about the future threats and how we don’t know where AI is going to go, but we absolutely do know what harms they’re already causing,” Kak said. “Unless we have rules of the road, we’re going to end up in a situation where this kind of state of play against consumers is entrenched.”

AI Now Managing Director Sarah Myers West Gives Remarks Before Heads of Agency, International Competition Network