The head of the federal agency tasked with recommending AI regulations to the Biden administration has deep and longstanding ties to Google, raising questions about big tech’s power to shape critical safeguards around the rapidly emerging technology.
Alan Davidson currently leads the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, or NTIA, the agency now crafting recommendations on how federal regulators can hold AI companies accountable. But for years, he worked as Google’s chief lobbyist in Washington, fighting regulatory battles that helped establish Google as the behemoth it is today, before moving on to organizations with close financial ties to the company.
The NTIA has said it is investigating what kinds of data would be necessary to audit tech companies’ AI products to make sure they work as claimed, how regulators can foster trust in AI systems, and “what different approaches might be needed” when AI is used in health care and employment — sectors…
