12 August 2024
ASSEMBLYMEMBER ASH KALRA
Representing the 25th Assembly District
Chair, Assembly Judiciary Committee
California State Senate
1020 N Street, Suite 104, Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: SUPPORT for SB 1047 (Wiener) Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Systems Act
Dear Chair Kalra,
BiocommAI does hereby express our extremely strong support for SB 1047, as is drafted today.
BiocommAI is a member of the U.S. Department Of Commerce Consortium Dedicated To AI Safety. BiocommAI has joined more than 200 of the nation’s leading artificial intelligence (AI) stakeholders to participate in a Department of Commerce initiative to support the development and deployment of trustworthy and safe AI. Established by the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on February 8, 2024, the U.S. AI Safety Institute Consortium (AISIC) brings together AI creators and users, academics, government and industry researchers, and civil society organizations to meet this mission.
We believe AI is the most important and transformative technology since the Gutenberg Press- with an infinitely more powerful impact on humans, our society and our humanity. We believe mathematically provable, trustworthy and safe deployment of AI operating in vast industrial scale data centers is vital to the growth and prosperity of our booming AI Industry in California.
With great power comes great responsibility. Many scientists in the AI industry believe the probability of a potential catastrophic outcome for humanity from AI technology to be 10 percent, on average, or even greater. Some believe the probability of catastrophe [aka “p(doom”] to be 90 percent, or even worse.
FACT: We must heed leading AI scientists, Bengio, Hinton, Lessig, Russell et al. including world renowned Professor Stephen Hawking, former longest surviving ALS patient and University of Cambridge Lucasian Professor of Mathematics, a position once held by Isaac Newton:
“I think the development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race. Once humans develop artificial intelligence that will take off on its own and redesign itself at an ever-increasing rate. Humans who are limited by slow biological evolution couldn’t compete and would be superseded.” – Stephen Hawking, on BBC News, 2014
At BiocommAI we believe, despite the enormous benefits of AI, any level of existential risk to humanity from AGI is absolutely unacceptable. Natural selection is a harsh reality. 99% of all species on earth are extinct. A new super-intelligent Machine intelligence species must be absolutely controlled by humans.
BiocommAI is a leading SafeAI Data Center developer for AI Frontier Scientific Models for Oncologists and People Living with Cancer. BiocommAI is dedicated to design, engineering and construction of SafeAI Data Centers for deployment and operation of mathematically provable Safe AI, including Full Shutdown capability. BiocommAI welcomes the expected regulatory requirements of SB 1047.
BiocommAI is committed to collaborate with members of the U.S. AI Safety Institute Consortium, to contribute to the success of the mission of the U.S. Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute, and to deliver provably safe AI technology for the prosperity and benefit of all humans. The consortium includes more than 200 member companies and organizations that are on the frontlines of developing and using AI systems, as well as the civil society and academic teams that are building the foundational understanding of how AI can and will transform our society. These entities represent the nation’s largest companies and its innovative startups; creators of the world’s most advanced AI systems and hardware; key members of civil society and the academic community; and representatives of professions with deep engagement in AI’s use today. The consortium also includes state and local governments, as well as non-profits. The consortium will also work with organizations from like-minded nations that have a key role to play in setting interoperable and effective safety around the world. The full list of consortium participants is available here: https://www.nist.gov/aisi/aisic-members
FACT: AI experts agree, the risk of catastrophic harm of an AI “Intelligence Explosion” are very real. The lack of safety regulations does absolutely nothing to incentivize the AI Industry to invest in mathematically provable Safe AI Systems. SB 1047 is a reasonable start.
Advanced AI systems have immense potential to benefit society, but they also pose real risks if not developed with absolute human control.
The AI Industry freely admits inherent unpredictability and next to ZERO technical understanding of:
- How large language models (LLMs) actually function – they are grown, not programmed, and
- How a “Rogue AI” can be controlled with “full shutdown” in event of catastrophe, and
- How, in the worst case, a Rogue AI could be “Lights out for all of us.” (Sam Altman, 2023)
FACT: Residents of California did not vote for unregulated experimentation on the general public with absolutely zero technically provable safety assurances by the AI Industry.
BiocommAI believes SB 1047 is balanced and responsible, supporting Safe AI innovation in California while defining legal requirements for advanced AI Frontier Models to prove technical capability for a “full shutdown” as an emergency “kill switch” to control extremely powerful AI in event of “going rogue”.
FACT: SB 1047 Begins to Provide Some Clarity for AI Industry Best Practice – with a Light Touch
BiocommAI believes SB 1047 can begin to hold companies liable for potential harms of their products, like any other industry, and require proof-of-safety first, before release to the public.
Regulation is normal in our democracy. Obviously, all industries, aviation, automotive, food and pharma, all must prove their products are regulatory compliant (safe) before release to the general public.
On behalf of BiocommAI, I urge you to support this crucially important legislation. By establishing clear guidelines for the responsible development of frontier AI models, SB 1047 will help ensure that this transformative technology benefits everyone. As an AGI developer on the cutting edge of this powerful technology, BiocommAI is committed to working with policymakers, fellow developers, and the public to ensure AI is a Safe AI. We sincerely believe that SB 1047 will help make this requirement possible.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
/Peter A. Jensen/
CEO, BiocommAI Inc.