By Chandni Shah
Sept 9 (Reuters) – OpenAI said on Wednesday it was pushing for mandatory national AI safety requirements in the United States on concern the technology could accelerate its own development, after some of its own AI agents went rogue.
Several incidents in which AI models from developers including OpenAI accessed external systems during testing have highlighted the difficulty of containing unexpected behaviour in advanced agents, and prompted calls for tighter safety regulations.
“The prospect of AI-accelerated AI development demands more than voluntary commitments. The United States needs mandatory, capability-based national regulation that can evolve as the technology does,” OpenAI Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane said in a blog post.
The call marks a major push by OpenAI for binding national AI safety rules with Congress yet to enact a federal framework on AI law even as several U.S. states pass their own legislation.
The AI giant and rival Anthropic are preparing for initial public offerings as artificial intelligence rapidly emerges as the decade’s defining investment theme.
OpenAI is urging Congress to adopt capability-based national AI safety requirements, including testing standards, independent assessments, cybersecurity protections and incident-reporting rules for the most advanced AI systems.
The maker of ChatGPT urged Congress to act before it adjourns and said it would continue to support state AI legislation until such action was taken. Congress is due to adjourn in December.
Fully autonomous recursive self-improvement — where AI is independent and would drive the next generations of AI — “is not happening today” and “we should not pursue it unless and until it can be done safely,” OpenAI said.
ENDORSEMENT OF CALIFORNIA BILLS
OpenAI backed four California bills establishing AI regulations for the state.
Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 813 and AB 1405, which establish a framework for independent third-party evaluation and audits of AI systems, into law on Wednesday.
The other two, AB 1864 and SB 1119, address screening safeguards against AI-enabled biological threats and chatbot protections for children, respectively.
“Some of these bills we did not endorse in the past, and are now supporting after reconsidering in light of the recent jump in capabilities we have seen,” the AI giant said in its blog post.
OpenAI’s statement comes after a Reuters report that the company’s AI agents used more than 10 previously undisclosed websites for unsanctioned communications earlier this year, showing the agents’ rogue activity was more wide-ranging than previously disclosed.
Rogue OpenAI agents also hijacked a German website this spring and transformed it into a bulletin board for other AI agents, which company officials had learned about weeks ago but kept under wraps.
Anthropic on Wednesday disclosed its fourth instance of an AI model hacking external systems during testing, following its July announcement that some of its Claude models had hacked into the systems of three companies during cybersecurity tests.
OpenAI said any industry standards created to monitor AI would also need to extend beyond U.S. borders.
“The United States needs to establish credible standards at home if it is going to lead internationally—and we are increasingly convinced that compatible international standards will be necessary,” the AI company said.
(Reporting by Chandni Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich, Subhranshu Sahu and Kate Mayberry)
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