Remarks to The Honorable Dr. Laurie E. Locascio, Under Secretary of Commerce on The White House Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy AI

December 6, 2023 - This morning I had a chance to participate in a roundtable discussion with technology and financial sector leaders led by The Honorable Dr. Laurie Locascio , Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Jayne Morrow , Senior Advisor on Standards Policy for National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) , ANSI and Columbia School of Professional Studies. In May 2023, the U.S. government issued a request for input on national priorities and future actions on artificial intelligence. On October 30, 2023 U.S. President Biden issued an Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence followed by a public request for information on implementation of the U.S. Government NIST Strategy for Critical and Emerging Technology in areas such as: broad questions in benefits and risks, investment, participation, workforce, integrity and inclusivity, both from industry and the private sector (deadline December 22, 2023). I presented remarks today that are relevant for early stage startups and ecosystems in the United States and global entrepreneurship competitiveness.

In my comments and response to The White House EO and draft guidance that is available for public review until December 22nd, I addressed some key points and examples for consideration with regards to standards on emerging technologies covering artificial intelligence, machine learning, cybersecurity, national security, intellectual property and stakeholder management. My points included:

The recognition of diverse stakeholder incentives at various business lifecycle stages, such as early-stage, growth, or large technology companies, underscores the need for a nuanced approach.

Establishing data literacy and training programs is pivotal for workforce development, aligning with the evolving norms driven by readily available off-the-shelf AI solutions. This necessitates a comprehensive understanding of the associated costs and implications from a data perspective as well as a stakeholder and competitive talent perspective for economic growth.

To foster inclusivity, a talent and governance pipeline should transcend traditional boundaries, embracing diverse sectors, populations, and age groups. Internship initiatives should not be confined to elite institutions, but rather encompass a broad subset of the population, including operators and practitioners with diverse experiences and not singularly run by academic institutions with a high ticket price and specific demographics who can afford the education of PhD’s and MBA’s.

Effective governance, especially with AI and quantum, demands skilled individuals well-versed in technology, engineering, intellectual property, and business management as well as operators, practitioners, and members from research institutions and think tanks in the not-for-profit public sector with ethicists, philosophers, and human behavior specialists.

Ethical considerations including vibrant discussions and debate at the table involving creators and those impacted directly, are crucial. Whistleblower guidelines should be integrated, drawing lessons from recent disruptive events, such as the 2023 banking crisis in venture capital earlier in 2023 and what we have seen from Silicon Valley at the end of November 2023 with the shift from open source to closed source AGI development. In the long term such events stifle innovation and future global competitiveness and growth and will lose interested talent and human capital to be part of the early stage, visionary growth that has been America’s strength.

As the U.S. defines the next stages of our technological future, robust infrastructure development necessitates strategic capital allocation. The energy implications of global scaling artificial intelligence and quantum computing underscore the need for sustainable solutions, given their potential impact on energy efficiency, consumption, and climate. Cyber first from a cybersecurity and national security perspective is necessary and at times a zero-trust environment will be critical in technical requirements as the technology is not fully proven from vulnerabilities or threats.

Energy is a factor as more compute and power will be needed to power the technologies. At global scale artificial intelligence and quantum computing will be more expensive to power than human job positions and functions. It will affect energy efficiency, consumption and climate.

Data privacy rules in data collection, autonomy, ownership, and use are already affecting the private-public partnerships in the collaboration for emerging and frontier technologies across several verticals from healthcare to hybrid work in the private sector, cyber and national security with the Department of Defense.?

Regulations require discussion and oversight by the Legislative Branch of the government and it can take more than 7 years to pass the legislative process. Protections and clear guidelines are required to address ethical concerns and to foster innovation.

A huge thank you to Margaret Isa Butler of BakerHostetler for the invitation and privilege to share my remarks and perspective in early stage entrepreneurship in person the Under Secretary and her team of advisors at NIST and responsible for deployment and oversight of the $52 billion CHIPs Act from 2022 and thank you to the colleagues in the room who lent their ear and voices earlier today. ????

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