Apple signs on to Biden’s responsible AI guidelines

Tech giant Apple on Friday signed on to the Biden administration's voluntary artificial intelligence guidelines, which were first outlined in an executive order in October.

Apple now joins 15 other major tech companies, including Amazon, Anthropic, Google, Inflection, Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI, in committing to responsible AI development and rollout.

The company’s pledge to the nonbinding agreement follows the announcement of its “Apple Intelligence” platform earlier this month. The new tool will make some improvements to the already AI-powered Siri voice assistant and integrate ChatGPT into the next iPhone software update.

In joining the voluntary commitments, the company has now agreed to a wide set of White House provisions that encourage developers to follow safety protocols, test their models for biases and security risks, and let the government view the results of those tests.

The October order also directed federal agencies to deploy AI, guard against possible discrimination through its use and create industry and government standards to better identify AI-generated content. In a press statement today, the Biden administration said that federal agencies have completed all of the 270-day actions laid out in the order.

“They have taken steps to mitigate AI’s safety and security risks, protect Americans’ privacy, advance equity and civil rights, stand up for consumers and workers, promote innovation and competition, advance American leadership around the world, and more,” reads the statement.

Washington constituents engaged with AI governance applauded the executive order when it was released nine months ago, but none saw it as a substitute for congressional action. In March, a bipartisan group of senators released a long-awaited “roadmap” for addressing AI that Congress could take up this term.