OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has sounded his fears about AI-powered election interference, telling a congressional hearing on Tuesday that the technology needs to be regulated to protect voting integrity. Artificial intelligence chatbots like his company’s ChatGPT were a “significant area of concern”, Mr Altman told the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law “I am nervous about it,” he said about elections and AI, adding rules and guidelines are needed. For months, companies large and small have raced to bring increasingly versatile AI to market, throwing endless data and billions of dollars at the challenge. Some critics fear the technology will exacerbate societal harms, among them prejudice and misinformation, while others warn AI could end humanity itself. “There’s no way to put this genie in the bottle. Globally, this is exploding,” said Senator Cory Booker, one of many lawmakers with questions about how best to regulate AI. Senator Mazie Hirono noted the danger of misinformation as the 2024 election nears. “In the election context, for example, I saw a picture of former President Trump being arrested by NYPD and that went viral,” she said, pressing Altman on whether he would consider the faked image harmful. Mr Altman responded that creators should make clear when an image is generated rather than factual. Speaking before Congress for the first time, Mr Altman suggested that, in general, the US should consider licensing and testing requirements for development of AI models. Mr Altman, asked to opine on which AI should be subject to licensing, said a model that can persuade or manipulate a person’s beliefs would be an example of a “great threshold.” He also said companies should have the right to say they do not want their data used for AI training, which is one idea being discussed on Capitol Hill. Mr Altman said, however, that material on the public web would be fair game. Mr Altman also said he “wouldn’t say never” to the idea of advertising but preferred a subscription-based model. The White House has convened top technology CEOs including Mr Altman to address AI. US lawmakers likewise are seeking action to further the technology’s benefits and national security while limiting its misuse. Consensus is far from certain. An OpenAI staffer recently proposed the creation of a U.S. licensing agency for AI, which could be called the Office for AI Safety and Infrastructure Security (OASIS). OpenAI is backed by Microsoft. Mr Altman is also calling for global cooperation on AI and incentives for safety compliance. Christina Montgomery, International Business Machines Corp chief privacy and trust officer, urged Congress to focus regulation on areas with the potential to do the greatest societal harm. Gary Marcus, a Professor Emeritus at New York University, was also on the panel, and expressed his concerns about the rapid development of artificial intelligence. “We have built machines that are like bulls in a china shop: Powerful, wreckless and difficult to control,” he said. Senator Blumenthal responded by saying it was more like “a bomb in a china shop”. Additional reporting from agencies. Read More ChatGPT is finally connected to the web after huge OpenAI update Regulation ‘critical’ to curb risk posed by AI, boss of ChatGPT tells Congress Watch as OpenAI CEO faces questions from Congress on potential AI regulation Sam Altman testifies before Congress saying there is ‘urgent’ need for regulation

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A top EU official has asked X/Twitter owner Elon Musk to “walk the talk” when it comes to curbing fake content and the glorification of violence following the terror attack against Israel by Hamas. EU commissioner Thierry Breton wrote in an open letter shared on X that illegal content and disinformation were being shared via the social media platform about the Hamas incursion into Israel, which began on Saturday. He warned the EU could punish X for failure to comply with its obligations to moderate content under the Digital Services Act, and gave Mr Musk 24 hours to give a “prompt, accurate and complete response”. “You need to be very transparent and clear on what content is permitted under your terms and consistently and dingently enforce your own policies,” Mr Berton said, adding that the social media company “must be timely, diligent and objective” in taking action and removing relevant content when it receives warranted notices of illegal content in the EU. “I therefore invite you to urgently ensure that your systems are effective, and report on the crisis measures taken to my team,” the EU commissioner said, calling for Mr Musk to respond within 24 hours. Replying to the statement, the Tesla chief called on the commissioner to “list the violations”. “Our policy is that everything is open source and transparent, an approach that I know the EU supports. Please list the violations you allude to on X, so that that the public can see them,” the multibillionaire posted on X. “You are well aware of your users’ – and authorities’ – reports on fake content and glorification of violence. Up to you to demonstrate that you walk the talk,” Mr Breton said in response to Mr Musk’s tweet. While X has claimed it was treating the ongoing crisis in Israel with its highest level of response, watchdog groups and the EU said misinformation and harmful content continue to flourish on the microblogging platform. X’s own safety team acknowledged there had been an increase in daily active users on X in the conflict area in the past couple of days, saying that there have been more than 50 million posts globally focusing on the weekend attack. “As the events continue to unfold rapidly, a cross-company leadership group has assessed this moment as a crisis requiring the highest level of response,” the team said. The struggle to find reliable news on the platform was exacerbated when Mr Musk himself flagged two accounts as “good” for “following the war”. Journalists, however, pointed out that these accounts had previously shared a fake AI-generated image of an explosion at the US Pentagon, and that one of them had also posted antisemitic comments. Mr Musk’s posts recommending them have now been deleted. Users on the platform also pointed out that old videos are being repackaged and circulated on X as if they are from the most recent attack. One widely shared video falsely claimed to show a Hamas militant shooting down an Israeli helicopter, but was later found to be a clip from a video game. “Public media and civil society organisations widely report instances of fake and manipulated images and facts circulating on your platform in the EU, such as repurposed old images of unrelated armed conflicts or military footage that actually originated from video games,” the Eu commissioner said in his letter addressing Mr Musk. X has not immediately responded to The Independent’s request for comment. Read More X promises 'highest level' response on posts about Israel-Hamas war. Misinformation still flourishes Holocaust survivor among hostages and ‘several Americans’ may have been killed or kidnapped, says Blinken Musk begs Twitter users to stay ‘as close to the truth as possible’ as fake news about Gaza war proliferates

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