Elizabeth Warren Warns Of AI Policy That Could Create Long-Term Problems For National Security

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During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) spoke to nominees about AI guidance.

Transcript

00:00Thank you, Senator Shaheen. Senator Warren.

00:03Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for being with us today.

00:07So, artificial intelligence presents big opportunities and big risks for national security.

00:14Federal agencies should benefit from AI innovation, but instead,

00:20a few big tech companies could lock the government into expensive, anti-competitive products.

00:27I'm working with Senator Schmidt on this, and last month, the Office of Management and Budget

00:33published guidance to ensure that the government can, quote,

00:37benefit from a competitive American AI marketplace.

00:42The guidance does not apply to DoD, but is all the more important at DoD,

00:47given the billions of dollars that DoD is set to give out in AI and cloud contracts.

00:54So, today, I want to just run through some of the lessons from OMB's guidance.

01:00Number one, interoperability.

01:02A big tech contractor could build its cloud tool so that it works only with its own AI,

01:09which would trap DoD into paying sky-high prices, potentially for subpar products.

01:16And that is why OMB encouraged agencies to require AI tools to work with other companies' products.

01:26Mr. Candonazzi, do you agree that DoD would benefit from interoperability?

01:32Senator, I appreciate the question.

01:34I'm not familiar with the term interoperability as defined in that particular report,

01:37but more broadly, in general, yes, it's a great thing for the department to secure.

01:41Okay, good. I'm going to take that as a yes,

01:45that you think the product should be able to work with other products, work in connection.

01:49In general, more connectivity and flexibility to enable a networked approach is a good thing for software.

01:53We're at the same place then.

01:55Let's do another one, data use.

01:57The biggest AI contractors can also stomp out competition

02:02by training their models on troves of government data

02:06so that smaller companies don't stand a chance.

02:10This is a disaster for competition and a disaster for data security.

02:14Data on the location of our service members or on DoD's contracts

02:19should not be anywhere near a commercial AI model, for example.

02:25The White House is clear here.

02:27It says contractors should not use government data

02:30to train publicly or commercially available AI algorithms

02:35without an agency's permission.

02:38So, Mr. Catanasi, do you agree it is important

02:41for both competition and data security

02:44to limit contractors from training their commercial tools on government data?

02:52Senator, I appreciate the question.

02:54And in general, yes, I'd say we want to make sure we're following the law

02:57with regards to the application of these tools.

02:59No, that's not my question.

03:00This is not a question of law yet.

03:02This is just a question of what we should be doing

03:04in our acquisitions at DoD.

03:06So, Senator, I'm not familiar with the White House

03:08particular guidance on this issue,

03:10but as you laid it out, it seems to make sense,

03:12and I would be supportive of discussing that with you if confirmed.

03:15Okay, look, government contracts for AI

03:18and for cloud tools should, one, prevent lock-in,

03:22and, two, protect government data.

03:24That's all we're talking about here.

03:26Senator Schmidt and I have a bipartisan bill

03:29to make sure that DOD contracts do exactly that.

03:33Next week, we will reintroduce the Protecting Cloud and AI Competition in Defense Act

03:41to make sure that billions of dollars in DOD contracts

03:45go toward fueling innovation in AI and cloud technology

03:49and not just helping the biggest companies get even bigger.

03:53So, let me ask you, Mr. Catanasi,

03:56will you commit to working with me and with Senator Schmidt

03:59to stop any competitive practices by big tech

04:03that could threaten our national security?

04:06Senator, artificial intelligence represents the most promising capabilities

04:11for transformational productivity and impact of the department.

04:13I would be thrilled if confirmed to work with you and Senator Schmidt on this issue.

04:17That looks good.

04:17I look forward to working with Senator Schmidt

04:19and with you and all of the members of this committee.

04:22I think we could make some real progress here.

04:25Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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