Americans are clear about what they want from AI. Our latest polling shows they prioritize safety over speed, prevention of harm and deception (especially for vulnerable populations), protecting privacy and personal data, and keeping humans in charge. They also hold deployers of AI just as accountable as the developers.
Business is starting to respond.
This week the Alliance for Critical Infrastructure, a CEO-led coalition, added new members to prepare for AI-powered attacks on banking, technology, energy, telecommunications, and transportation. Citigroup‘s Jane Fraser told Axios that capturing AI’s upside means accepting “the responsibility that comes with it.”
Banks are also fighting AI deception where it hurts most: in people’s accounts. Today the American Bankers Association relaunched its #BanksNeverAskThat and #PracticeSafeChecks campaigns. Banks across the country can use the new videos and materials to help customers spot scams. As the ABA’s Paul Benda told the Senate this summer, generative AI “is not replacing traditional scams. It is industrializing them.”
On innovation, Vertex Pharmaceuticals is using AI to speed up its research and development, and is hiring business talent with quantitative training. Zoom has committed $10 million over three years to AI education and opportunity, with $5 million going to K-12 AI literacy through partners including Code.org.
Commitments like these are still rare. In our corporate disclosure analysis, only 9% of Russell 1000 companies report investing in community AI initiatives. Only 10% disclose a policy that explicitly addresses harm, deception, or manipulation, which is the public’s top priority.
Still, these are incredibly positive actions. We need more of them, and our monthly National AI Monitor, which tracks how ordinary Americans are experiencing AI in their lives, will help us gauge the impacts.
Be well,
Martin
14% of companies disclose a policy or set of principles that specifically mentions keeping humans in charge, human oversight, or maintaining human-in-the-loop.
The Wall Street Journal examines a small Pennsylvania town and explores the varied responses to a tactic companies are using to build local data centers – by offering locals cash payouts.
ABC looks at how the construction boom around AI data centers is so large it’s halting progress on other important construction projects.
OpenAI cancels their latest model update, citing major safety concerns. The Washington Post has the story.
At the same time, The New York Times reveals that OpenAI was previously ignoring employees who warned it wasn’t doing enough for security.
Axios reports on The Alliance for Critical Infrastructure, a recently formed CEO-led coalition that aims to protect critical infrastructure from AI risks.
Yahoo! Finance examines research that shows nearly one-third of Americans cannot pay their bills on time.
The Financial Times looks at how Starbucks’ growth plan is rolling back many of their sustainability promises.
The Century Foundation examines how debt payments have grown since 2022 and are eating away at Americans’ pay.
