IBM is All-In on the Future of Safe, Innovative, & Ethical AI

#AI has the power to transform our world. It’ll help us be more productive as a society and address some of our world’s most pressing challenges – whether it’s pioneering drug discovery, improving infrastructure maintenance, or confronting climate change.

However, like any other powerful technology, AI comes with the potential for both misuse and risk. That’s why at IBM we’re focused on advancing AI solutions that safeguard businesses and users while allowing innovation to flourish. By adopting responsible AI practices and developing trustworthy technology, we can spur an era of innovation that benefits everyone.

Advocating for AI Safety Globally

?IBM is committed to promoting AI safety not just in the U.S., but around the world. As part of our efforts, we’re informing global discussions on how this technology should be developed and deployed to ensure an AI future we can all trust.

?Earlier this month, I attended the Global Summit of Women in Madrid to discuss the future of AI and the impact of the European Union’s EU AI Act, which was formally approved by the Council of the European Union on May 21st. This first-of-its-kind AI regulation sets an important precedent for how advanced technologies are governed. IBM is particularly pleased that the EU AI Act regulates at the point of risk — prioritizing context, centering transparency, and providing clear guidance based on a technology’s end use.

As I stated during my trip, policymakers globally can look to the EU AI Act as a model regulatory framework that prioritizes safety, transparency, and accountability. As the EU formally moves to implement the legislation, it is more crucial than ever for companies to adopt internal governance structures to ensure their compliance.

My visit to Madrid came on the heels of the announcement that IBM and Spain are collaborating on an innovative public-private partnership to develop a world-leading set of open and trustworthy AI foundation models native to the Spanish language. Partnerships like these exemplify IBM’s leadership in making ethical AI innovation more broadly accessible.

Speaking at the Global Summit of Women on the importance of adopting effective AI governance structures in light of the EU AI Act passage.

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On another side of the world, last week, I was in Seoul to attend the second annual AI Safety Summit, co-hosted by Korea’s Ministry of Science and Technology and the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology .

The #AISeoulSummit brought together leaders in tech and government to emphasize the need for international cooperation on AI safety. As part of the Summit, IBM joined with other leading companies to sign the Seoul AI Business Pledge to affirm the importance of the values of safety, innovation, and inclusivity in AI governance.

IBM joined other leading companies in signing the Seoul AI Business Pledge

In conjunction with the Summit, the Republic of Korea hosted the #AIGlobalForum, where I attended several high-level roundtables to discuss how to ensure AI is developed and deployed responsibly and safely. I particularly enjoyed the presentations from Andrew Ng of DeepLearning.AI and AI Fund supporting open innovation, and Marc Raibert of The AI Institute and Boston Dynamics on the future of robotics. I also had the chance to connect with Chrysoula Zacharopoulou , Secretary of State in charge of Francophony, Development, and International Partnerships at the Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères , as we look forward to France’s 2025 AI Summit to continue these important conversations.

While in Korea, I had the chance to meet with members of the AI Alliance, an organization IBM launched with Meta to bring together leaders across industry, startups, academia, research, and government in support of open innovation and open science in AI. I was pleased to welcome our newest member, Korea’s own Kakao Corp .

Finally, I had the chance to discuss AI governance frameworks in Asia, with the opportunity to speak at the Future of Privacy Forum 's event celebrating the launch of its report, “Navigating Governance Frameworks for Generative AI Systems in the Asia-Pacific."

It was wonderful to make so many new connections in Korea.

Throughout my time, I emphasized IBM’s point of view that open innovation is key to advancing AI safety. Open models and ecosystems encourage greater involvement and scrutiny from a larger community of stakeholders, increasing the likelihood that bias and vulnerabilities can be identified and patched. Ultimately, when a broad community is represented in AI development, safety is prioritized.

Developing Solutions to Help Businesses and Governments Adopt Ethical AI Systems

It’s essential to advocate for government regulations that prioritize AI safety, but corporate accountability is the other piece of the puzzle.

As stated by IBM’s AI Ethics Board, which I co-chair,?in order to leverage foundational models ethically and responsibly, it is key to identify potential sources of risk and make holistic investments in culture, processes, and tools that enable effective AI governance.

At IBM, we’re leading in the development of solutions, like watsonx.governance, to help companies large and small adopt AI safely, responsibly, and innovatively. watsonx.governance enables organizations to implement guardrails by automating AI lifecycle governance, proactively managing AI risk, and facilitating compliance with internal policies, industry standards, and current and future AI regulations.

Innovation without safety exposes corporations and consumers to unnecessary risk – and tools like watsonx.governance are essential to ensure the responsible use and development of AI within organizations while still allowing innovation to thrive.

The watsonx.governance dashboard allows you to easily take a birds-eye view to monitoring your AI systems.

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Beyond advocating for safe AI policies and building scalable products that enable responsible AI adoption for our clients, IBM is also leading in the development of an open AI ecosystem that recognizes the value of community-built technology and the open exchange of information, ideas, and skills.??

That’s why, at IBM’s Think conference last week, IBM unveiled the open sourcing of our most powerful Large Language Granite models. We also launched InstructLab — a revolutionary approach to advancing open source innovation that will allow our clients to build models specific to their business domains or industries using their own data.

IBM’s Think Conference in Boston.

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Building a Better World with Safe, Trustworthy AI Innovation

IBM is addressing global concerns and challenges around AI because we believe that open, explainable AI systems will bring trust, and with it,?innovation, to game-changing levels.

Building trust in AI requires:

●????? A multipronged approach from the public and private sectors alike.

●????? Precision regulation that doesn’t stifle innovation.

●????? Open systems that provide access and transparency.

●????? AI governance that helps manage the ethical development and deployment of these technologies.

Only when we meet all these conditions will AI’s innovations truly benefit us all. That’s why we’re committed to adopting ethical AI frameworks internally and building the tools, resources, and technology that enable our clients to implement these practices. We’ll also continue advocating globally for precision regulation and working with governments and partners on policies that promote open, transparent systems and ensure a safe and innovative AI ecosystem that benefits us all.

In this era of digital transformation spurred by AI, IBM isn’t just calling on others to do the work, we’re on the ground and in the lab paving the way toward a future where safe, trustworthy, and innovative AI systems enable society to reap the benefits of AI while addressing potential misuse and risks.