AI Regulation: SB 813, Independent Verification, and the Future of Governance

The Current AI Regulatory Landscape

• 💡 The AI community is awaiting the federal government's AI action plan, currently operating in a "weird regulatory void" with numerous state-level AI bills proposed.
• ⚠️ A federal AI moratorium, which would have preempted state legislation, did not pass, leading to a complex patchwork of proposed laws.

Fathom's Novel Approach to AI Governance

• 🎯 Fathom aims to develop novel solutions for AI governance, recognizing it as potentially the hardest regulatory challenge the world has faced.
• 🧠 The approach acknowledges limitations in government expertise and speed, proposing a system that doesn't rely solely on traditional, lengthy legislation.
• ⚖️ Senate Bill 813 (SB 813) in California is presented as a conceptual outline for this new approach, focusing on two key ideas.

Key Components of SB 813

• 🤝 The first idea is creating a virtuous feedback loop for accountability within a "private regulatory market" or "independent verifier market."
• ✅ This aims to ensure that private entities setting best practices are held accountable for societal good and demonstrable outcomes.
• 🚀 The second idea is to use "carrots" rather than strict regulations to encourage compliance, focusing initially on tort law as a cross-state framework.

Addressing the Patchwork Problem

• 🌐 Startups and entrepreneurs fear a patchwork of state-specific AI regulations, similar to the privacy world, leading to complexity and varied responsibilities.
• 🗺️ SB 813 proposes that states could band together to create a cohesive network of subject matter experts, offering a unified approach instead of 50 different solutions.
• 🧩 This could allow a small startup to gain approval through one private organization recognized by multiple states, simplifying compliance.

Challenges and Opportunities in Verification

• 🔬 Current benchmarking and evaluation organizations often focus on specific risks and may be divorced from the deployer landscape.
• 📈 There's a concern that a few organizations could dominate standard-setting, potentially leading to a "race to the bottom" or groupthink.
• 💡 The proposed framework emphasizes proving good outcomes rather than just checking boxes, allowing for a dynamic and adaptive system.
• 🛠️ The goal is to create a regulated marketplace that accelerates adoption and ensures alignment with societal good, rather than solely relying on industry-driven standards.

The Role of Government and Philanthropy

• 💰 Andrew Freedman emphasizes that government's role is to set desired societal outcomes and reward those who achieve them, fostering a public-private partnership.
• 🌟 Lauren Wagner advocates for significant philanthropic investment to build a dynamic ecosystem of evaluation and verification companies before codifying legislation.
• ⚠️ Both agree on the need for transparency, accountability, and a proven model that accounts for rapid innovation, rather than rushing to legislate based on current imagination.

Funding and Future Outlook

• 🤝 Fathom is philanthropically funded by independent wealth, with a focus on societal good and avoiding industry influence or corporate funding.
• 🔮 The speakers anticipate that the need for independent verification will become clear, leading to public-private partnerships and a focus on carrots over strict mandates.
• 📈 The aim is to create a flexible, adaptive framework that encourages innovation while ensuring AI aligns with public good and safety, preventing a scenario where it's too late to influence development.