Trump chooses top spy boss to run new AI taskforce
The US president said his national intelligence chief will lead the group as worries over AI grow. Jay Clayton will head a taskforce that has drawn criticism from the likes of Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren who has called for regulation of AI. Trump has rejected the idea of laws to control development of the technology despite a debate about the potential risks of AI and what it means for humanity. Last week, the president and the heads of major AI firms signed a "morally binding" document, making them responsible for ensuring the safety of their own technology. Trump - who is unilaterally attempting to rebrand AI as "super intelligence" - wrote on social media: "The Super Intelligence Force will coordinate the Federal Government's engagement with Consumers, Public Interest Groups, Religious Organizations, Critical Infrastructure Providers, and Super Intelligence Companies." As well as Clayton, a former chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Andrew Ferguson, head of the Federal Trade Commission, will be on the taskforce along with Emil Michael, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering. It will report directly to Trump and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. Trump has pushed back against any kind of slowdown on AI development. He said the US is leading the race ahead of China, adding: "And, frankly, I want to keep it that way because whoever wins AI, wins." President Xi Jinping recently travelled to Washington for a state visit. Days later, Trump ruled out a joint venture between the US and China to develop AI.
"If we do that, we're going to be giving a lot of secrets that we have that they [China] would want to have, or anybody else," he said. The announcement of the taskforce follows growing pressure from prominent figures in the industry, including executives of OpenAI and Anthropic, to tighten regulation of the technology. Trump first announced the taskforce in September, prompting Warren to state: "Congress cannot meet the pressing threat of AI by just forming another committee or continuing to have drawn-out discussions about it." She added: "Let's actually pass some meaningful regulations on AI to protect people." In an interview published on 4 October, OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said the benefits of AI justify accepting some of its risks and argued that the technology should remain accessible to the public. The company recently admitted that a rogue OpenAI agent hacked an Australian government website in June and accessed private data. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the agent "infiltrated" a statistics portal containing "non-sensitive" data from Australia's universal healthcare scheme Medicare. Despite the incident occuring in June, Albanese said the government only learned about the breach in August. He said there will be "legal consequences". OpenAI chief strategy officer Jason Kwon is due to appear as part of an AI inquiry in Australia on Tuesday. Over the weekend, a former leader in OpenAI's safety systems team wrote in an article for the Atlantic magazine that he had left the firm because its culture was "broken".
"As [OpenAI] sprints from one launch to the next, it is failing to achieve the level of care that I believe is needed," wrote David Robinson, who was involved in safety and transparency reporting. Last month, the ChatGPT-maker pulled the release of its latest AI model due to safety concerns. Trump has largely left it to AI companies to regulate themselves. A pact signed on 29 September included the signatures of executives from top tech firms like OpenAI, Anthropic, SpaceX and Google. On the same day, the president signed an executive order instructing US government departments and agencies to start using the terms "SI" and "Super Intelligence" and should no longer acknowledge the use of the term artificial intelligence. SI will take the place of AI in "official correspondence", websites, reports and other forms of communication, the order said. Some experts have questioned the logic of the rebranding, arguing that the use of "super intelligence" could cause confusion as it refers to more advanced systems. Some top tech leaders have already started to use the new name, including multi-billionaire Elon Musk, who said on social media on Sunday that he will rename his firm's AI platform SpaceXAI as SpaceXSI.
โก Effects Interpreter
๐World Economy
- โถMarkets around the world might take their cue from how this story unfolds.
- โถGrowth projections drawn up in distant capitals may need a rethink.
๐๏ธLocal Economy
- โถHousehold budgets may notice a modest ripple in due course.
- โถCorner shops and cafes rarely feel this straight away, but they do feel it.
๐ฆRates & Banks
- โถA modest drift in borrowing costs is more plausible than a sharp jump.
- โถBorrowing plans are usually safe from sudden shocks over something like this.
โค๏ธHealth
- โถA story like this can linger in the back of people's minds for a while.
- โถKeeping a normal routine typically helps steady the nerves during unsettling news.
๐ทWealth
- โถA modest, well-diversified nest egg tends to absorb shocks like this gradually.
- โถSavers with a clear plan tend to feel less rattled by news like this.
๐ Housing
- โถRenters might see costs drift a little as landlords weigh their own bills.
- โถA cooling or warming market usually takes months to fully show up in prices.