Google and IBM push for increased govt resources to support AI innovation and transparency

Technology giants Google and IBM are pushing for the federal government to take a more active role in promoting AI innovation and transparency and strongly oppose the creation of a new single AI “super regulator,” according to comments submitted to the White House on Friday and in past weeks.

The tech behemoths reiterated their support for flexible risk based AI regulatory frameworks like the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST)’s AI Risk Management Framework rather than more horizontal, rigid, top down regulatory approaches like the proposed EU AI Act that’s currently being debated. 

Google and IBM were responding to a public consultation launched in May by the Biden administration to gather evidence from industry and researchers on the major threats and opportunities presented by AI. It is one of several recent inquiries launched to examine the technology, including a request for information from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration in April.

“IBM urges the Administration to adopt a “precision regulation” posture towards AI. This means establishing rules to govern the technology’s deployment in specific use-cases, not regulating the technology itself,” the company said in its comments submitted to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy regarding national priorities for AI.

“IBM supports leveraging existing authorities to regulate AI. As such, we recommend that the Administration support an approach to regulating AI that prioritizes empowering every agency to be an AI agency,” the company said.

IBM in its comment to the OSTP added that the White House should push for the greater resources and the expansion of the GSA’s AI Center of Excellence, the National AI Research Resource (NAIRR), and agencies with high compute needs like the Commerce Department and the Energy Department.  

Google in its comment to the OSTP reiterated the importance of NIST taking the lead on trustworthy AI policies, standards and best practices in the U.S., and highlighted the need to ensure government acquisition policies are reformed to require AI training for acquisition workforce, remove barriers to data governance that harness the power of AI, and push federal agencies to use AI systems to enhance operations and decision making. 

The search giant also pushed for the White House to establish an AI competitiveness council in the form of a National AI Security & Competitiveness Council, or reactivate the National Security Commission on AI (NSCAI), to assess research and development (R&D) gaps and AI deployment to ensure that the US government is equipped to address security and defense challenges from foreign rivals and advocate for aligned international governance. 

IT global trade association, the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), also submitted a comment to the OSTP calling for NIST to be at the forefront of AI regulatory technical standards.