CA Legislature Back in Session, New NTIA Report on Open Source AI, and Using AI to Automate Shark Detection?

Welcome to SV-AI (Silicon Valley - Accelerates Innovation), my newsletter focused on the responsible development and deployment of innovations strengthening California's global competitive edge. Please subscribe to receive upcoming editions. Here, I’ll share tech policy news and leadership insights that you need to know and how technologies, like Artificial Intelligence, are being used IRL. In this edition, I’ll share how AI played a role in transforming the Olympics, key takeaways from the new NTIA report on AI models, and how one California university is leveraging AI to reduce shark attacks.?

AI 101?

As a huge sports fan, I want to begin with a heartfelt shoutout to all the Team USA athletes who competed in Paris.? It’s an honor to witness greatness and to cheer you all on!?

For SV-AI readers, I’ll note the Paris 2024 Olympics was the first event of its kind implementing the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s Olympic AI Agenda, a groundbreaking initiative that aims to enhance how the games are run, secured, and consumed.?

For example, there is an AI-powered monitoring system designed to protect athletes from online abuse, AI tools being used to analyze energy consumption data to inform operations for future games, and an AI-powered 3D Athlete Tracking (3DAT) technology to enhance the viewer experience.?

Read more about how AI helped to transform the games here .?

CA Legislature Back in Session?

The California Legislature returned last week from summer recess for the final month of the legislative session.

I will be watching closely to see which of the nearly 1,300 remaining bills are sent to the Governor’s desk by August 31.?

In particular, I’ll be paying close attention to the bills sent to the suspense file – a procedural tool used by the Appropriations Committees in both the Assembly and the Senate to manage bills with significant fiscal impacts.? These bills will be debated by the committees on August 15.??

Some AI-related bills to keep an eye on include:?

• AB 2355 , which would require disclosures for AI-generated audio or visual content related to elections.??
• AB 2930 , which seeks to regulate automated decision tools to prevent algorithmic discrimination, particularly in the areas of housing and employment.
• SB 1047 , which would establish regulations for the development and deployment of advanced AI models in California.?

If you pick only one AI bill to follow, I would suggest reading up on SB 1047 and monitoring the discussion to better understand these proposed frameworks from not only the California lens, but also nationally as I believe this all impacts the broader AI regulatory posture.?

AI Training for State Employees?

The California Department of Human Resources recently unveiled optional training for government employees to help them responsibly leverage emerging technologies, like artificial intelligence. The training is directed at the state government’s general workforce, business leaders, and technical and cybersecurity experts.?

According to a report , the goals of the training are to “identify and mitigate potential output inaccuracies, fabricated text, hallucinations, and biases of GenAI, while upholding public privacy protections and applicable state laws and policies.”?

The agency worked with nonprofits, industry, and academics to identify concerns that should be addressed within the program – another example of the power of effective private-public partnerships when it comes to AI.??

Keeping the Door Open on Open Source AI?

Last fall, President Biden’s Executive Order on AI required the Department of Commerce to compile a report outlining the potential benefits, risks and implications of dual-use foundation models, including open-source foundation models.?

Working through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), the Dept of Commerce issued the highly-anticipated report this month.? In the report, the department signaled support for open-source models to promote innovation in AI.?

Open-source models offer many benefits including accelerated development, broader accessibility, and economic benefits among others.? However, there are concerns about the technology falling into the wrong hands and causing harm.?

The NTIA’s recommendations fall into three main buckets: (1) collecting evidence; (2) evaluating collected evidence; and (3) potential government actions.?

I recommend that you read the full report here and read more analysis from SVLG SVP Peter Leroe-Mu?oz here .?

AI IRL?

The University of California Santa Barbara is using AI to help stop shark attacks.??

SharkEye is an initiative at the university’s Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory (BOSL) that uses drones to monitor underwater movements.? When a shark is spotted, a text goes out to people who have signed up to receive alerts to let them know to stay away from the area.?

Now, the Lab is leveraging AI to analyze the behavior of sharks and help other communities decrease shark encounters.?

Researchers feed video footage into a computer vision machine learning model to train it to detect sharks beneath the waves, essentially automating shark detection.?

You can check out their publicly available dashboard here .? And, for any surfers out there in southern California this may be worth looking into!?

Final Thoughts?

I’ll close by again congratulating all the Olympic athletes that have been inspiring us over the last couple of weeks.

Athletes from the Bay Area showed up in force to Paris, competing in artistic swimming, badminton, soccer, basketball, water polo, the decathlon, discus throwing, skateboarding, and much more .?

As a parent of swimmers, I loved watching Stanford graduate Katie Ledecky continue to dominate in the pool.? And seeing so many incredible women inspire us all made these games even better for my family, particularly Simone Biles and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone!????

No matter which flag they represent, Olympic athletes remind us of the value of hard work, determination, and authentically supportive community – and that the impossible is indeed possible for those who learn to dig deep .?

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