Washington, D.C. – TechNet, the national, bipartisan network of innovation economy CEOs and senior executives, today hosted a panel discussion with The Hill on the policies needed to advance America’s leadership in AI. You can watch the event here.
The event featured a conversation with TechNet Executive Council members Kent Walker, President, Global Affairs, Google, and Kerry McLean, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary, Intuit, as well as leaders from TechNet member companies including Michael Kratsios, Managing Director, Scale AI, and former U.S. Chief Technology Officer, and Rahul Sood, Chief Product Officer, Pindrop. Ed Knight, TechNet Chairman and Executive Vice Chairman of Nasdaq, gave opening remarks.
The event was part of a successful “TechNet Day” in Washington, D.C., where TechNet’s 2024 policy priorities were discussed with key leaders from both political parties. TechNet Day is TechNet’s annual marquee federal advocacy event that brings together leaders in Congress, the administration, and TechNet member company CEOs and senior executives to discuss the key issues impacting innovation, our economy, and our global competitiveness. This was the 24th annual TechNet Day.
“This year, our TechNet Day conversations with administration officials and members of Congress focused on advancing America’s leadership in AI. While AI has immense potential for good, it must have sensible guardrails to protect the American public and our core institutions,” said Linda Moore, TechNet President and CEO. “As we heard from TechNet member company executives during today’s panel, we must continue to invest in American AI, address potential harms while allowing innovation to flourish, and ensure AI works for everyone.”
During the panel, TechNet member company executives discussed innovative uses of AI, the latest efforts to govern artificial intelligence, and AI’s importance to America’s global competitiveness and national security.
“It is very true that we are in a race right now, and it is not a space race, but an innovation race. One thing I can tell you about innovation races is that these races are often not won by the first to invent but by the best to deploy. It is critical for American leadership in AI that we actually get this right,” said Kent Walker, President, Global Affairs, Google.
“Today, more than half of new small businesses do not survive past their first five years. We know that adopting digital tools like AI can help them not only beat the odds, but grow and compete with big business. Policymakers have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to help fuel small business success by putting AI in the hands of entrepreneurs,” said Kerry McLean, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary, Intuit.
“The most important thing that the U.S. should do is put policies in place that can continue to ensure that we’re driving technological innovation but at the same time protecting American citizens. The easiest way to sort of think through that is by focusing AI regulations on industry and sector-specific approaches to regulations…not creating one-size-fits-all AI regulations that some other parts of the world are potentially pursuing,” said Michael Kratsios, Managing Director, Scale AI, and former U.S. Chief Technology Officer.
“Technology exists for us to be able to detect [deepfakes] or synthetically generated content that might be going around as real content. That’s the good news. As you look at the arms race between good AI and bad AI, good AI is in front and can catch most of these deepfakes. The challenge for us as a society is how do we put safeguards in place so that an average person can feel safe and know they won’t get scammed. For us to get there, there is a big role that policy and regulations have to play,” said Rahul Sood, Chief Product Officer, Pindrop.
Today’s panel discussion was part of TechNet’s AI for America initiative. AI for America is a $25 million public affairs initiative to educate the public about how AI is being used to improve lives, grow our economy, and keep us safe. You can learn more at AI4America.com and by following @AI4America across Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
TechNet is the leading organization working with the administration, Congress, state legislatures, and federal and state agencies to ensure AI policies and regulations benefit all Americans, address risks, and strengthen innovation. In October, TechNet released its federal AI policy framework, which included recommendations for protecting consumers’ personal information, promoting U.S. innovation and global competitiveness, identifying unintended bias and discrimination, and investing in upskilling and workforce training programs.
Earlier this year, TechNet released its 2024 Federal Policy Agenda, which was discussed with policymakers throughout TechNet Day. TechNet’s policy agenda outlines the top priorities to ensure the United States wins the next era of innovation.