Tech companies agree safety commitments on development of AI

As two days of talks get underway, Zhipu.ai (China) and the Technology Innovation Institute (UAE) are among companies that have signed up to the fresh ‘Frontier AI Safety Commitments’:

• Amazon
• Anthropic
• Cohere
• Google / Google DeepMind
• G42
• IBM
• Inflection AI
• Meta
• Microsoft
• Mistral AI
• Naver
• Open AI
• Samsung Electronics
• Technology Innovation Institute
• xAI
• Zhipu.ai

Where they have not done so already, AI tech companies will each publish safety frameworks on how they will measure risks of their frontier AI models, such as examining the risk of misuse of technology by bad actors. 

The frameworks will also outline when severe risks, unless adequately mitigated, would be ‘deemed intolerable’ and what companies will do to ensure thresholds are not surpassed. 

In the most extreme circumstances, the companies have also committed to ‘not develop or deploy a model or system at all’ if mitigations cannot keep risks below the thresholds.

On defining these thresholds, companies will take input from trusted actors including home governments as appropriate, before being released ahead of the AI Action Summit in France in early 2025.

The 16 companies who have agreed to these commitments represent the most significant AI technology companies around the world, including representation from the US and China, the world’s two biggest AI powers.

Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, said: “It’s a world first to have so many leading AI companies from so many different parts of the globe all agreeing to the same commitments on AI safety. 

“These commitments ensure the world’s leading AI companies will provide transparency and accountability on their plans to develop safe AI.

“It sets a precedent for global standards on AI safety that will unlock the benefits of this transformative technology.

“The UK’s Bletchley summit was a great success and together with the Republic of Korea we are continuing that success by delivering concrete progress at the AI Seoul Summit.”

Tom Lue, General Counsel & Head of Governance, Google DeepMind said: “These commitments will help establish important best practices on frontier AI safety among leading developers. The agreement demonstrates the value of focused international Safety Summits, where scientifically-grounded conversations can take place.”

Anna Makanju, VP of Global Affairs, OpenAI said: “The Frontier AI Safety Commitments represent an important step toward promoting broader implementation of safety practices for advanced AI systems, like the Preparedness Framework OpenAI adopted last year. 

“The field of AI safety is quickly evolving, and we are particularly glad to endorse the commitments' emphasis on refining approaches alongside the science. We remain committed to collaborating with other research labs, companies, and governments to ensure AI is safe and benefits all of humanity.” 

Christina Montgomery, Chief Privacy and Trust Officer, IBM: “IBM believes that effective regulation coupled with corporate accountability will allow businesses and society at large to reap the benefits of AI. As such we are proud to continue our international engagement and our commitment to safe and responsible development of these technologies via the AI Seoul Summit.”