The Department of Homeland Security appoints Advisory Board on AI Safety and Security

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) formed a panel on Friday to explore ways to protect infrastructure, like power grids and airports from threats posed by artificial intelligence (AI).

As per a statement from DHS the Artificial Intelligence Safety and Security Board consists of 22 members, including figures from the tech sector such as Sam Altman from OpenAI Satya Nadella from Microsoft and Sundar Pichai from Alphabet.

Under the direction of U.S. President Joseph Biden the boards main goal is to provide advice to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and the White House on AI related issues. Its focus is, on developing recommendations to assist infrastructure stakeholders and creating strategies to prevent and respond to disruptions caused by AI that could impact security, economic stability, public health or safety.

DHS highlighted the use of AI in countering AI threats as part of the governments defense approach.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas stressed in a statement the impact that AI could have on interests while acknowledging the risks involved. He mentioned that these risks can be managed through adopting practices and proactive measures.

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Meta and Elon Musk who leads Tesla are surprisingly missing from the board considering their positions, in companies associated with AI.