U.S. set to host global summit on AI safety in Nov.

The U.S. is set to host a global summit on artificial intelligence as part of the newly-launched International Network of AI Safety Institutes in San Francisco this November, the Biden administration said this week.

It will mark the first convening of the group since participating countries from around the globe decided to launch the network to connect each of their AI-focused publicly-backed institutes during an AI summit in Seoul in May. 

“We want the rules of the road on AI to be underpinned by safety, security, and trust, which is why this convening is so important,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a press release. 

Raimondo and Secretary of State Antony Blinken will host the gathering on Nov. 20-21 that will bring together experts from each participating countries’ AI safety institute or government-backed scientific office. Along with the U.S., those that have joined the International Network of AI Safety Institutes include the European Union, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Canada, Japan, Kenya, the Republic of Korea, Singapore. 

The aim is to have a space to share insights and facilitate global collaboration on AI as the world adapts to and grapples with the quickly evolving technology. 

“Strengthening international collaboration on AI safety is critical to harnessing AI technology to solve the world’s greatest challenges,” Blinken said in the press release. “The AI Safety Network stands as a cornerstone of this effort.”

“AI is the defining technology of our generation,” Raimondo added. “With AI evolving at a rapid pace, we at the Department of Commerce, and across the Biden-Harris Administration, are pulling every lever. That includes close, thoughtful coordination with our allies and like-minded partners.”

The network will come together for an AI Action summit in Paris in Feb. 2025. 

The announcement comes as the United Nations this week warned that artificial intelligence could inequitably advantage some parts of the world and leave others behind without a global strategy for how to oversee it. In a new report, the international peace and security organization said AI holds enormous potential for good but brings a multitude of risks.

The topic of artificial intelligence exploded in Washington in the summer and fall of last year – triggered, in part by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s plea to lawmakers to regulate the technology during a Senate hearing in May, which ignited questions about how lawmakers should approach the field. 

In the months following, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer launched a series of AI forums, including one in the fall that saw some of the industry’s heaviest hitters, including Altman, X’s Elon Musk, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, descend on Capitol Hill to brief the upper chamber. 

At the White House, throughout the summer, President Joe Biden announced commitments from leading AI companies to follow safeguards. It all culminated with the signing of Biden’s executive order in October. 

Despite the recent attention on regulation and lawmakers introducing several bills last year, legislation in Congress on the topic has not received much movement. 

Spectrum News’ Susan Carpenter contributed to this report.