Ahead of a meeting between Vice President Kamala Harris and the heads of America's four leading AI tech companies -- Alphabet, OpenAI, Anthropic and Microsoft -- the Biden Administration announced Thursday a sweeping series of planned actions to help mitigate some of the risks that these emerging technologies pose to the American public. That includes $140 million to launch seven new AI R&D centers as part of the National Science Foundation, extracting commitments from leading AI companies to participate in a "public evaluation" of their AI systems at DEFCON 31, and ordering the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to draft policy guidance for federal employees. "The Biden Harris administration has been leading on these issues since long before these newest generative AI products debuted last fall," a senior administration official said during a reporters call Wednesday. The Administration unveiled its AI Bill of Rights "blueprint" last October, which sought to "help guide the design, development, and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) and other automated systems so that they protect the rights of the American public," per a White House press release. "At a time of rapid innovation, it is essential that we make clear the values we must advance, and the common sense we must protect," the administration official continued.

"UC Berkeley is a leader in AI, machine learning and optimization," said Atamturk. "We are delighted to join forces with interdisciplinary research …