The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has formed a board on artificial intelligence safety and security. The announcement was made by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and CEOs from top tech firms are also part of the board, including CEO of Google Sundar Pichai, CEO of OpenAI Sam Altman, CEO of Nvidia Jensen Huang, CEO of Microsoft Satya Nadella, and the like.
The AI Security Board will advise on key AI issues
The board will advise the federal government on matters related to AI and how the critical services of the nation should be protected from AI-related threats. The critical infrastructure covers 16 sectors, including transport, energy, defense, agriculture, and the internet technology sector, as millions of American citizens rely on it for business, lighting, information exchange, and their food needs.
Secretary Mayorkas said,
“Artificial intelligence is a transformative technology that can advance our national interests in unprecedented ways. At the same time, it presents real risks—risks that we can mitigate by adopting best practices and taking other studied, concrete actions.”
Source: DHS.
He also said that he is grateful that the leaders of tech firms are dedicating their time and knowledge to ensuring the safety of the critical infrastructure and important services that the nation relies on, laying out effective protection against risks, and also recognizing the vast potential of the technology.
The board is expected to convene in early May, and then it will meet quarterly. At the beginning, the board is tasked with an agenda covering two core issues, among them providing the secretary and the critical infrastructure community with advice for actionable steps so that AI technology can be adopted in a safe way and creating a forum for DHS, AI leaders themselves, and the critical infrastructure community to exchange information on risks presented by AI.
The selection of these experts was carried out by Secretary Mayorkas for the development of cross-sector approaches and strategies for key challenges surrounding the risks and benefits of AI.
Those who have been left behind
Along with the names mentioned at the start, there are a total of 22 members who belong to different sectors, including Kathy Warden, CEO of Northrop Grumman, a key defense contractor; Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines; Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic; and Arvind Krishna, CEO of IBM. Representatives of human rights, democratic institutes, and other institutes are also part of the board, including a few governors of states.
However, a key sector has been looked upon, and that is none other than social media, as no one from Meta or Snap Inc., which is the parent company of Snapchat or X platforms, is included, despite the fact that these companies are at the forefront of AI development and bringing it to the public face-to-face. Another sector that is looking towards AI and can have a lasting impact on the way we convene is the automobile industry, which is also not on board as no one from the major car makers or the innovative Tesla has been considered, but the initiative is still good and others may also be invited over time.
Back in 2023, DHS also established the first AI task force for the department, and now the board will also help DHS stay ahead of the evolving threats and ensure national security by deterring those threats. However some global political hint is also given by the department, as it has mentioned hostile nation-state actors, but they are also a reality and a true threat in today’s scenario.