US Homeland Security Launches AI Safety Security Board
In a move to address the potential risks posed by artificial intelligence (AI) to critical infrastructure, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has assembled a high-profile advisory board comprising leaders from the tech industry and various sectors, reveals a Reuters report.
According to the press release issued by the US Homeland Security Department on Friday (April 26), the 22-member Artificial Intelligence Safety and Security Board includes CEOs from AI companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Nvidia, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and AMD.
The primary objective of this board is to develop recommendations to help sectors such as transportation, pipelines, power grids, and internet service providers prevent and prepare for potential AI-related disruptions that could impact national security, economic stability, public health, or safety. Reuters also quoted how the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is stressing AI technologies developed by China and others which “could undermine U.S. cyber defences, including generative AI programs that support malicious activity such as malware attacks.”
Earlier in April, the US Homeland Security Department issued a report criticising Microsoft products for Chinese cyberattacks and asked the tech giant to enhance the cybersecurity of its existing products instead of launching new ones.
How will the new AI safety security board function?
Friday’s press release stated that “the Board will advise DHS on ensuring the safe and responsible deployment of AI technology” in sectors like transportation, internet technology, defence, energy, agriculture, and transportation “in the years to come, and it will look to address threats posed by this technology to these vital services”.
Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas explained how the Board will work by providing actionable recommendations for the safe adoption of AI including essential services which US citizens use daily to the Secretary and the critical infrastructure community. The board will also be involved in creating a DHS forum to share AI security risk information with AI leaders and the critical infrastructure community.
In addition to tech giants, the board features CEOs from major companies in industries such as aviation (Delta Air Lines), energy (Occidental Petroleum), and defence (Northrop Grumman). It also includes representatives from state and local governments, with Maryland Governor Wes Moore, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, and the head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy among its members.
The formation of this advisory board comes in the wake of the DHS’ 2024 threat assessment, which warned about the potential for AI-assisted tools to enable larger-scale, faster, and more evasive cyberattacks against critical US infrastructure like pipelines, railways, and other systems.
Earlier in February, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas announced that the DHS was recruiting 50 experts to leverage the use of AI technologies in areas like child sexual abuse, immigration services delivery, travel security and cybersecurity. So far, the DHS has more than 4000 applications and is reviewing them to recruit AI technologists.
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