Senate Democrats Demand AI Safety Details from OpenAI's Sam Altman on July 23, 2024

Jul 23, 2024, 02:02 PM

On July 23, 2024, five Senate Democrats sent a letter to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, demanding detailed information on the company's efforts to ensure the safety and security of its artificial intelligence models. The letter includes twelve questions, covering topics such as employment protection, whistleblower systems, cybersecurity, and AI model releases. This action follows a Washington Post report that revealed OpenAI rushed through safety testing of its latest AI model, GPT-4o, potentially undermining its safety commitments. The senators are particularly interested in whether OpenAI will allow U.S. Government agencies to conduct pre-deployment testing and review of its next foundation model. The letter was signed by Senators Brian Schatz and Ben Ray Luján, among others. OpenAI also reposted its May 2024 safety blog in response to the inquiry.