Google DeepMind boss Demis Hassabis issues call to action on AI safety standards

Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis says only the United States is up to the task of keeping AI safe – but it's unclear why technology rivals, notably China, would heed an American standards body.

Hassabis has called for a framework for testing frontier models, on the grounds that he believes progress has been faster than expected and artificial general intelligence (AGI) will arrive imminently.

He argues that such work should be led by the US because of its technical and economic standing.

"This US-initiated effort would provide a strong starting point for creating shared international standards on Frontier AI," Hassabis noted in a social media post.

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"Since this technology is going to affect the entire planet, ideally this framework would spur the international community to reach a consensus on how to manage the most serious risks while ensuring everyone has access to and can benefit from the opportunities that AI brings."

Hassabis' call for a US-led framework for managing AI follows similar calls by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Following a meeting on the subject last month, China called for a global AI organization open to all countries, rather than one led by the US.

The US has pushed for AI developers to submit models a month before release for testing, while the UK has its own testing regime via its AI Security Institute; Hassabis is British, and DeepMind was founded in London before being acquired by Google.

It's unclear why international AI companies would submit to US approval. The only motivation given by Hassabis is that frontier models would be required to pass this standards body's assessment in order to be deployed in the US.

Hassabis’ comments come after Anthropic’s Mythos and Fable models were hit with a temporary export ban by the White House amidst security concerns.

How would it work

Beyond being US-managed, Hassabis described a standards body that was federally overseen, such as a public-private partnership or self-regulatory organization, pointing to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

"The Standards Body would be responsible for developing assessment protocols and working with appropriate federal agencies and the US National Labs to conduct testing in areas relevant to national security," he said.

Anyone making a "frontier model" – as defined by a set of benchmarks – would be considered a "frontier lab", and be "encouraged" to adopt certain best practices.

This would include publishing technical details, ensuring internal security is up to standard, vetting key personnel, and adequate resourcing safety research.

Non-frontier models, such as those made by startups or academia, would not be expected to take part.

Hassabis also called for frontier labs to share new modes with the standards body 30 days before release, something the US government has pushed key developers to do with their AI models.

"Once the assessment protocol is shown to be effective and robust, formalisation could quickly follow, meaning that Frontier Models would be required to pass it to be deployed in the US market," Hassabis said. "Labs would also work with the Standards Body to address any critical post-release vulnerabilities."

Assessments conducted by the standards body would evaluate security, biological, and other threats, and check how well they withstood attempts to dodge guardrails. The tests would be regularly updated.

"The strength of this approach is it would be technically focused, while at the same time supporting innovation and incentivising responsible behaviour," he said.

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