A bipartisan bill has been introduced by lawmakers in the United States to support the Biden administration in imposing export controls on top artificial intelligence (AI) models developed in the country. The bill, announced by House Republicans Michael McCaul and John Molenaar, along with Democrats Raja Krishnamoorthi and Susan Wild, aims to bypass legal challenges and provide the Commerce Department with the authority to hinder American citizens from working with foreign agents on AI systems that could pose a national security risk. Currently, regulating open-source AI models is challenging for the Commerce Department, but if the bill is passed, it would ease the process of regulating open-source AI exports.
This move comes in response to a recent report by Reuters on May 8, which stated that the U.S. is prepared to take action to protect its domestically developed AI from China and Russia. The report mentioned that export controls will be implemented on the most advanced proprietary AI models. China has been known to utilize open-source AI models from the U.S., such as Meta’s Llama models, for its own AI development.
Additionally, on April 16, Microsoft and AI company G42, based in Dubai, reached an agreement. Microsoft committed to a $1.5 billion deal with the United Arab Emirates to support local AI innovation. This agreement will also grant the UAE access to cutting-edge AI technologies developed in the U.S. by Microsoft. Microsoft has made several deals with foreign governments regarding the development and use of its AI models and cloud services.
However, the primary concern for the U.S. remains the risk of high-level AI technology falling into the hands of the Chinese government. In November 2023, 01.AI, a prominent Chinese AI company founded by former Google executive Lee Kai-fu, revealed that its AI model Yi-34B was built using Meta’s Llama system. This is one of the measures the U.S. government has taken to impose sanctions on China and limit its influence on U.S.-made AI technology. In January, the Chinese AI firm Baidu faced potential sanctions due to allegations that the People’s Liberation Army used the company’s technology for military purposes.
In conclusion, the bipartisan bill introduced by U.S. legislators aims to support the Biden administration in imposing export controls on top AI models, with the goal of preventing potential national security risks. The U.S. government is taking steps to safeguard its domestically developed AI technology from China and Russia, and is also cautious about sharing high-level AI technology with foreign governments.