Join leaders in Boston on March 27th for a special evening of networking, insight, and conversation.request an invitation here.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is facing an internal crisis as staff and scientists threaten to resign over anticipated appointments. Paul Cristiano hold an important position in a newly created government agency U.S. AI Safety Association (AISI) At least two sources with direct knowledge of the situation spoke on condition of anonymity.
who is cristiano known for his bond The Effective Altruism (EA) movement and its offshoot, Long Termism (a way of thinking that prioritizes the long-term future of humanity, Popularized by philosopher William MacAskill) was able to rush through the hiring process without anyone knowing until today, one of the people said.
Mr. Cristiano's appointment is said to have come directly from Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo (NIST is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce), but Mr. Cristiano's involvement with EA and his long-term commitment have led to concerns about the institute's objectivity. and sparked outrage among NIST officials who feared it could compromise their integrity. .
Many say that EA – is defined by. effective altruism center as an “intellectual project of using evidence and reason to figure out how to benefit others as much as possible.” cultA group of highly influential and wealthy followers (made famous by FTX founder and prison inmate Sam Bankman Freed) biggest concern It revolves around preventing a future AI apocalypse from wiping out humanity. Critics of EA focus on this existential risk, or “X risk.” say it's happening It would undermine the necessary focus on today’s measurable AI risks, including bias, misinformation, high-risk applications, and traditional cybersecurity.
US AI Safety Association established in November 2023
AISI Founded in November 2023 to “support the responsibilities assigned to the Department of Commerce.” AI Executive Order. Early today, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (Democrat, New York) announced NIST will receive up to $10 million to establish a U.S. AI Safety Laboratory.
Last month, Venture Beat report Regarding criticism of NIST's lack of transparency surrounding AISI: In mid-December, members of the House Science Committee from both parties Sent a letter to NIST As reported by Politico,chastised It accused the agency of a lack of transparency and failure to announce a competitive process for planned research grants related to the new National AI Safety Institute. ” The lack of transparency “centered on potential grants to the RAND Corporation, an influential think tank.” Linked to high-tech billionaires, the AI industry, and effective altruism” (Venture Beat is was also reported About the „expanding web“ of effective altruism advocates in AI „safety“ and security circles, including within RAND and the leading LLM modeling firm Anthropic.
“It is important to ensure that NIST’s mission is not affected.”
Divyansh Kaushik, Deputy Director, Emerging Technologies and National Security Federation of American Scientiststold VentureBeat that regardless of who is appointed to the AISI role, „it is important to ensure that NIST's mission is not affected by the AISI role.“
NIST has always conducted „highly evidence-based methodological measurement research,“ he said. “We are in uncharted territory, trying to establish a program for evaluating hypothetical risks from general-purpose models. We fully understand the anxiety that NIST scientists have, and we believe that every appointment is based on science. It is up to the leadership of the Department of Commerce to ensure that it remains faithful and true to NIST’s mission and methodology.”
He added that if a particular appointment causes NIST's „superstar scientists“ to resign, „that would be unfortunate. In that case, the director should look at what he has to lose by appointing one.“ I hope they will reconsider their choices,“ he added.
He noted that parliamentary committees are already paying close attention to AISI's efforts. „I hope they can do good work with great people who are the best measurement scientists, and do this work in a way that relies on NIST's strengths rather than rehashing NIST's mission or its activities.“ I hope so,” he said. .
VentureBeat reached out to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, AISI Director Elizabeth Kelly, and Paul Cristiano. I'll update if I get a response.
VentureBeat's mission will be a digital town square for technical decision makers to gain knowledge and transact on transformative enterprise technologies. Please see the briefing.