US State Department and Big Tech Invest $100 Million in Global Access to AI
At the U.S. State Department’s event on Safe and Trustworthy AI during the UN General Assembly in New York, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken took the stage with leaders of major technology companies on Monday to announce more than $100 million being invested in AI technologies for developing countries.
Blinken discussed how countries hardest hit by global challenges also deserve easy access to AI to solve big problems. The State Department — along with OpenAI, Microsoft, IBM, Amazon, Google, Meta, Nvidia and Anthropic — has committed to advancing AI technology and availability for countries in the Global South. This initiative means AI training for individuals and businesses, as well as the opening of data centers, plus access to discounted hardware and computing resources to help people achieve their goals.
For Blinken, investing in AI globally is not only a moral imperative, but also a security imperative.
“This inequality hurts all of us,” Blinken said in a speech at the UN. He added that inclusiveness means that people around the world can help solve local problems, which can alleviate stress around the world. “Food insecurity can lead to conflict and mass migration.”
Blinken praised technology partners for their help with the initiative and wants to help countries grow their AI capacity by creating localized, context-specific datasets in their own languages.
With the mass adoption of AI tools from Big Tech players like Google, Microsoft, Meta and OpenAI, there are concerns that the technology has outpaced the accompanying government regulation. Earlier this year, the UN General Assembly a resolution was adopted push for safe AI adoption for global good. The European Union has also passed the Artificial Intelligence Act to establish a regulatory and legal framework and impose restrictions on AI technologies that pose a high risk of causing harm. In response, Big Tech lobbying to limit the effects of the EU AI Act.
While governments are trying to contain the risks of AI proliferation, this hasn’t stopped actors and governments around the world from pushing the technology or using it in dangerous ways. The use of AI technology was reportedly used to rapidly bomb Hamas targets in Gaza, leading to massive destruction and rapidly increasing civilian casualties, according to reporting from 972 Magazine And The guard.
“We need to focus on security and we need to focus on making sure that the models don’t produce the most dangerous outcomes that can be abused by bad actors,” Nathaniel Fick, ambassador at large for the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy at the State Department, said when he spoke to the press after the event. “But fundamentally, as policymakers, we need to keep our eyes on the North Star of innovation and opportunity, because AI can fundamentally change the trajectory toward achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.”
Fick added that the goal of this initiative, and also of the UN’s broader AI goals, is to focus on the architecture level of AI development globally and to build broad international consensus on a set of AI principles.
Ultimately, Blinken said no country has a monopoly on good ideas and that it is necessary to empower all people.
“For every problem, someone has the beginnings of an answer,” Blinken said.
