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.
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