The U.S. has long been home to some of the most innovative companies in the world. With artificial intelligence (AI) driving the next innovation boom, we have an opportunity as a nation to maintain this leadership position by harmonizing the responsible deployment of AI with a regulatory approach that allows AI innovation to thrive. If we don’t strike this balance thoughtfully, America's position as a global leader in technology and innovation could substantially erode.
As global AI competition intensifies, Congress and the Administration should advance a comprehensive U.S. vision on AI that enhances safe and responsible innovation, promotes competition, and encourages policies that can be embraced by our trading partners. And a primary goal of this strategy for AI should focus on fostering and ensuring safe and responsible innovation. This balanced approach will enable all industries to benefit from AI technologies while safeguarding against risks of this technology, particularly where AI use cases have the potential to affect individuals’ health and safety or civil rights.
This balanced approach to AI policy should be adopted at the federal level to avoid a patchwork of state regulations. Just this year in statehouses across the country, hundreds of bills have been introduced on AI. The federal government is the appropriate lead on AI and should act to ensure we have robust and consistent policies throughout the country.
If done right, this type of regulation will both increase healthy competition and improve the lives of millions of people around the world. AI has the potential to tackle some of humanity’s most pressing issues. We are seeing real-life examples where AI is helping manufacturers compete globally by reducing the costs of operating and maintaining industrial assets and field equipment; helping farmers increase their crop yields while reducing waste; and helping companies minimize their carbon footprint by enhancing the energy efficiency of their infrastructure.
That’s why Amazon is investing in generative AI and the responsible development and deployment of foundation models across all of our businesses—and we support and provide resources for our Amazon Web Services (AWS) customers to do the same. For example, through our Amazon Bedrock service, Amazon expands the opportunities and resources available to customers and provides them with an opportunity to use and develop a broad variety of foundation models, all within the safety and security of AWS.
We’re committed to developing and deploying AI and other machine learning services responsibly, and we believe that regulation should require others to do the same. We’ve already introduced new capabilities to foster responsible generative AI innovation with built-in customer protections, resources to enhance transparency, and tools to combat disinformation. We’ve built security scanning into Amazon CodeWhisperer, processes to detect and block harmful content into Amazon Titan, and data and security protections into Amazon Bedrock so customers can maintain control over how their data is used.
Our commitment to safe, transparent, and responsible generative AI also includes collaboration with the global community and policymakers to share best practices, and we encouraged and supported both the White House Voluntary AI commitments and the AI Safety Summit in the UK. We encourage policymakers around the globe to collaborate with industry to support the safe, secure, and responsible development of AI technology.
This year we’ll see continued rapid development of AI technologies and uses, and it's essential to establish global interoperability and policy alignment among our like-minded countries—and within our country—to effectively manage and harness these advancements responsibly. The U.S. adoption of sectoral, risk-based approaches to governance is the path to maintain our global leadership.
The Administration is taking critical first steps as it tasks agencies with next steps in regulatory frameworks, and we encourage other governments to follow suit on models that are robust and flexible enough to support innovation and establish critical safeguards. Countries around the world are racing to regulate AI, and we should stress to our trading partners that there’s an alternative to a one-size-fits-all approach that follows a more flexible and durable model.
The U.S. should advance that model, in concert with countries such as Japan, the UK, and Australia who share a similar approach. All of these jurisdictions are taking sector-specific approaches to regulating AI. This approach encourages a more targeted ability to manage actual risk rather than over-regulating benign uses of AI where regulatory hurdles might hamper innovation.
By embracing the right risk-based approach, we can ensure that the nation remains at the forefront of AI advancements, securing its economic and national interests in an increasingly competitive global landscape. This balanced strategy is our best bet for fostering sustainable and responsible growth and maintaining our leadership in this dynamic area of innovation. Together with academic, industry, civil society, and government partners, we are committed to making this a reality.
