A bipartisan bill unveiled by U.S. lawmakers aims to assist the Biden administration in imposing export controls on top artificial intelligence (AI) models originating from the country. Introduced by House Republicans Michael McCaul and John Molenaar, alongside Democrats Raja Krishnamoorthi and Susan Wild, the bill seeks to streamline the process of regulating exports of AI models by circumventing potential legal challenges.
The proposed legislation grants the Commerce Department "clear authority" to prevent U.S. citizens from collaborating with foreign entities to develop AI systems that could jeopardize national security. Presently, the Department of Commerce faces hurdles in regulating open-source AI models under existing laws. If passed, the bill would alleviate obstacles to overseeing the export of open-source AI technologies.
Recent reports suggest that the United States is gearing up to safeguard its domestically developed AI from countries like China and Russia. This proactive stance comes in response to China's utilization of open-source AI models, such as Meta's Llama model, to bolster its own AI capabilities.
In a significant move, Microsoft inked a $1.5 billion deal with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to support local AI innovation, providing access to cutting-edge AI technology developed in the U.S. Microsoft has been actively engaging with various governments worldwide to facilitate the development and utilization of its AI models and cloud services.
Amid these developments, the primary concern in the U.S. revolves around preventing advanced AI technology from falling into the hands of the Chinese government. Notably, China's prominent AI firm, 01.AI, acknowledged building its AI model Yi-34B using Meta's Llama system, raising apprehensions about the proliferation of U.S.-developed AI technology.
The proposed bill represents one of several measures taken by the U.S. government to counter China's influence and safeguard American-made AI technology. Earlier, Chinese AI company Baidu faced potential sanctions over allegations of its technology being used by the People's Liberation Army for military purposes.
