(Reuters) – Anthropik said on Tuesday that the benefits of proposed California legislation that would restrict the development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) in the state are likely to outweigh the costs.
San Francisco-based Anthropic is a rival to OpenAI, which developed ChatGPT, and is backed by Amazon (AMZN.O)(opens in a new tab) and Alphabet (GOOGL.O)(opens in a new tab).
California's AI regulation bill, SB 1047, introduced by Democratic state Senator Scott Wiener, would require safety testing for many cutting-edge AI models that cost more than $100 million to develop or require a certain amount of computing power.
Developers of AI software used in the state would be required to clearly state how to disable an AI model if it malfunctions — essentially a kill switch — and the bill would also give the state's attorney general the power to sue developers if they don't comply.
Why is this important?
Senator Wiener recently amended the bill, with some input from Anthropik, to appease tech companies, removing a provision for a government AI oversight board.
Technology companies that are developing AI that can respond to prompts with full text, images and voice and perform repetitive tasks with minimal intervention have largely opposed the bill.
Alphabet Inc's Google and Meta (META.O) expressed concerns in a letter to Wiener, with Meta saying the bill could put states at a disadvantage in developing and deploying AI.
OpenAI has argued that AI should be regulated by the federal government and that California's bill creates an uncertain legal environment.
Important Quotes
“Our assessment is that the new SB 1047 is a significant improvement and we believe its benefits likely outweigh its costs. However, we are not convinced, and there are several aspects of the bill that still seem concerning or ambiguous to us,” Anthropik CEO Dario Amodei said in an Aug. 21 letter to California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“Due to the rapid developments in this sector, initial concerns that the bill could stifle innovation have been significantly alleviated in the revised version.”
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Reporting by Jahnavi Nidumolu in Bengaluru; Editing by Mriganku Dhaniwala
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