A new report from CNBC shows that lobbyists connected to the AI industry were quite busy last year. Indeed, in 2023, AI lobbying efforts shot up 185 percent from the previous year. The analysis, which is based on disclosures provided to the non-profit OpenSecrets, shows that the long list of companies that tried to exert their influence in the halls of Congress last year include prominent AI businesses like OpenAI, Anthropic, Nvidia, and AMD, as well as companies where AI is core to their business, like Palantir, Tesla, and even TikTok owner ByteDance.
This shouldn’t be too surprising, though it does put a cold hard number to the amount of cash Silicon Valley is willing to throw around in an effort to sway the regulatory trajectory of its new golden calf.
In recent months, we’ve seen multiple examples of the tech industry’s influence efforts. A report from Bloomberg in September noted the degree to which AI lobbyists had been courting state governments as part of an organized effort to steer statehouses away from new regulations that might be unfriendly to their client’s business interests. The story notes how lobbyists helped kill a bill in California that would have regulated how companies use AI.
Similarly, a story from Politico last year showed how a network of “AI advisors” had descended upon Washington D.C., where they were occupying spots at prominent Congressional offices and think tanks, in an effort to spread the gospel of “effective altruism” and light touch regulatory schemas.
All of these efforts help put the lie to the schtick played by major figures in the AI industry over the past several months (*cough, cough* Sam Altman and Elon Musk), who have been pretending they actually want governments to regulate their businesses. If they were serious about regulations, you wouldn’t expect to see these businesses throwing so much money at the legislative process.
So much for the moral high ground of tech executives. Here are a couple other things that happened in AI this week.
Elon Musk’s X halted searches for Taylor Swift this weekend after AI-generated, sexually explicit photos of the international pop superstar went viral on the platform. This is one of the few times X has meaningfully blocked controversial content on the platform, which has largely hidden behind claims of being a “free speech” platform to let its content run wild since Musk’s takeover. —Maxwell Zeff Read More
Elon Musk says that the first person has received a neural implant from his controversial brain chip startup Neuralink. Musk revealed the information in a tweet posted on his social media platform, X (formerly Twitter). For months, the company has been looking for a candidate to undergo its experimental surgery, the point of which is to install a tiny microchip into the top layer of the person’s skull. Once installed, the chip is supposed to provide a number of health and scientific benefits, including an ability to measure brain activity and to give people with physical or mental disabilities newfound capabilities. —Lucas Ropek Read More
OpenAI released a study the company conducted on GPT-4’s effectiveness in creating a bioweapon on Wednesday. The company found that its AI poses “at most” a slight risk in helping someone produce a biological threat. There’s a lot of talk about AI accelerating our impending doom, but OpenAI wants you to know that you’re fine... probably! —Maxwell Zeff Read More
Earth orbit is getting its own space doctor in the form of a small cyborg arm reaching out for the scalpel. A surgical robot is launching to the International Space Station (ISS) to test its ability to slice through human flesh in a microgravity environment. —Passant Rabie Read More
You won’t need to pay for Samsung’s latest Galaxy S24 AI features—at least not for another two years. Samsung’s head mobile exec confirmed that users might be asked to pay for more premium AI features in two years’ time, though not even the company itself knows what a paid version of Galaxy AI will look like. —Kyle Barr Read More
The race to implant smartphone technology directly into your brain stem heated up when Neuralink implanted a chip into its first human brain on Sunday. To rival this new step in technology, China set a timeline to develop its own “brain-computer interface” on Monday with products arriving as early as 2025. —Maxwell Zeff Read More
A federal agency is pushing to outlaw AI-generated robocalls after criminals tried to disrupt New Hampshire’s Democratic primary with a deepfake phone call from President Biden. The phone call from our sitting President told voters to stay home last weekend in an “unlawful” attempt at voter suppression, according to the state’s Attorney General. —Maxwell Zeff Read More
Source: Gizmodo