The Future of AI Regulation: A New Bill in the Making
A New Approach to Regulating AI
A new bill is being proposed to regulate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the United States. The bill would require AI models that require a certain number of computations, typically measured in FLOPs (floating-point operations), to have a safety plan in place. The bill would cover models that require more than 1026 FLOPs in their training and cost over $100 million.
Industry Reaction
The bill has already received criticism from industry forces. Hugging Face, a company that opposed SB 1047, believes that regulation should focus on specific applications rather than broad model categories. A spokesperson for the company said, “While we can’t comment specifically on legislation that isn’t public yet, we believe effective regulation should focus on specific applications rather than broad model categories.”
Early Days of the Bill
The bill is still in its early stages and is subject to changes and edits. However, there are already lessons to be learned from the battle over SB 1047. Scott Kohler, a scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, who tracked the development of SB 1047, believes that the debate around future legislation would benefit from more clarity around the severity, likelihood, and imminence of harms.
Reactions from Lawmakers
Assemblymember Edward Ra, a Republican, expressed support for the idea of mandated safety plans for AI companies. “I don’t have any general problem with the idea of doing that. We expect businesses to be good corporate citizens, but sometimes you do have to put some of that into writing.” He and his co-chair, Bores, are part of the New York Future Caucus, which aims to bring together lawmakers 45 and under to tackle pressing issues that affect future generations.
Looking Ahead
Scott Wiener, a California state senator who sponsored SB 1047, is happy to see that his initial bill has inspired further legislation and discourse. “The bill triggered a conversation about whether we should just trust the AI labs to make good decisions, which some will, but we know from past experience, some won’t make good decisions, and that’s why a level of basic regulation for incredibly powerful technology is important.” He plans to reintroduce the bill in California.
Conclusion
The proposed bill aims to regulate AI models that require a significant amount of computation and cost a large amount of money. While the bill has received criticism from industry forces, some lawmakers and scholars believe that regulation is necessary to ensure the responsible development and use of AI. The debate around AI regulation will continue, and it is likely that we will see more bills and proposals in the future.
FAQs
* What is the proposed bill?
The proposed bill would require AI models that require a certain number of computations, typically measured in FLOPs, to have a safety plan in place.
* What is FLOPs?
FLOPs stands for floating-point operations, which is a measure of the number of computations required for a model’s training.
* Who opposes the bill?
Hugging Face, a company that opposed SB 1047, believes that regulation should focus on specific applications rather than broad model categories.
* What is the next step for the bill?
The bill is still in its early stages and is subject to changes and edits. Scott Wiener, the California state senator who sponsored SB 1047, plans to reintroduce the bill in California.
