High-Profile Tech Execs Form AI Safety Committee for Homeland Security

By: Eva Baxter

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has established an AI Safety and Security Board, naming 22 leading experts and tech firm executives as members. Among the named members are prominent figures such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, and the heads of top tech companies like NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, and Alphabet/Os in Satya Nadella, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, and Alphabet/Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

The board’s founding meeting is due to take place in May, with their first order of business being to counsel the DHS on the safe and responsible use of AI, and to address potential related threats. The initiative is primarily focussed on AI in relation to 16 crucial infrastructure sectors, which includes the defense, energy, agriculture, transportation and internet technology sectors. It aims to continue and improve on the DHS’s 2024 Homeland Threat Assessment, which noted the potential for AI powered cyber-attacks against US infrastructure.

The board’s formation follows a 2023 executive order issued by the Biden administration on AI safety, which directed the DHS to establish the board and set out other expectations for the department and wider US government in relation to AI. Federal agencies are currently appointing chief AI officers and setting up AI governance boards.