The Biden administration’s move to force cloud companies to disclose when foreigners use their platforms to power artificial intelligence could be seen as an escalation in the ongoing tech war between China and the United States. However, experts are divided on how effective this strategy is.
“We need the federal government to take the threat of AI seriously, especially when it comes from malicious foreign actors. This is a good step,” says the American Principles Project. policy director John Schweppe told FOX News Digital.
Schweppe’s comments come as U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo announced that her department will soon use U.S. tech companies whenever non-U.S. companies use their cloud to train large-scale language models. This comes after the government announced that it may require companies to make disclosures.
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President Biden will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 Summit to be held in Bali, Indonesia, on November 14, 2022. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque/File)
Raimondo did not name specific companies or countries, but the potential move is largely seen as a way for the U.S. to maintain an edge over China in AI technology, and President Biden said in October said such disclosure could aid in detection. If a foreign attacker plans to use his AI to launch “cyber-enabled malicious activities.”
Ramond also hinted at a similar effort last month to specifically target China, saying in an interview that the U.S. wants to “cut off any means by which China can access our models or train its own models.” Stated.
China’s advances in AI development have been a top concern for the administration, which has in the past sought to counter Beijing’s advances by restricting chip exports to the country and sanctioning some Chinese companies. However, the country has continued to make strides despite the US move.
Christopher Alexander, chief analyst at Pioneer Development Group, told Fox News Digital that the new proposal shows that “the U.S. government is finally starting to take the threat of Chinese economic espionage seriously.” Told.
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“While there is no silver bullet to combat the incessant theft of intellectual property by the Chinese, such measures will make it more difficult for the United States to compete in the AI sector. can’t take on AI efforts,” Alexander said. He said. “Ideally, governments would focus more on support than regulation, but given the scope and nature of this national security threat and the tremendous opportunities it presents, we believe that close and fruitful collaboration between government and the private sector is essential.” There needs to be a relationship.”
Jake Denton, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Technology Research and Policy, echoed similar sentiments, telling Fox News Digital that the U.S. “has been driven by naive assumptions about the universal benefits of progress to the reality that technology empowers first movers.” We cannot be blind to it.”
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo spoke during her daily press briefing at the White House. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“If China wins Al Race, it could become the world’s dominant power for generations. We need to wake up and realize that this is a Sputnik moment. “There is,” Denton said. “The United States must secure the technology essential to aluminum’s breakthrough and ensure it is in our national interest.Giving Chinese companies access to American chips, cloud technology, and talent will This is tantamount to unilateral disarmament in the technological Cold War.”
But not all experts are convinced the plan will be effective, with some raising concerns that it could slow down technology development.
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“This will absolutely slow down technological progress. It will add layers of bureaucracy and reporting, and developers will be required to meet arbitrary standards set by an uninformed federal government.” Federalist Staff Editor Samuel Mangold Rennett told Fox News Digital.
But Mangold-Rennette also acknowledged that the United States needs to prevent foreign adversaries such as China from accessing “critical technology.” This is especially true when foreign countries have a history of “hacking and stealing from us.”
“American developers should be allowed the freedom to develop robust systems unimpeded, while encouraging the best possible data security,” he said.
How the U.S. will regulate transactions with foreigners in the tech industry, especially since the exchange of cloud services is not a physical good and is typically “beyond the scope of export controls,” according to a Bloomberg report remains unclear.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (Zhang Lintao/Getty Images)
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Meanwhile, U.S. cloud providers have long worried that such restrictions could put American companies at a competitive disadvantage, absent similar moves by other allies.
Phil Siegel, founder of the Center for Advanced Preparedness and Threat Response Simulation, shared similar concerns, saying the move “will encourage foreign companies to look for alternatives and shift market share outside the U.S. to avoid reporting requirements.” It’s a possibility,” he told Fox News Digital.
“It could trigger regulatory retaliation in other countries, and providing a price umbrella to Amazon, Microsoft, Google and other foreign competitors could slow overall development and increase costs,” Siegel said. Stated. “Overall, this type of regulation is more onerous than requiring a one-off KYC (Know Your Customer)-type regulatory regime that could be applied across the board, especially for foreign companies. We need a deep investigation and hold cloud companies more accountable.”
The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
