USAMinistry of JusticeThe White House announced Thursday that it will step up regulation of artificial intelligence and warned companies and individuals who deliberately try to misuse the technology for white-collar crime that they could face harsher sentences.
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said the Justice Department will consider how well companies manage risks from AI technology when evaluating their compliance programs, which are sets of policies and procedures designed to detect misconduct and ensure executives and employees follow the law.
Monaco's comments highlight concerns among law enforcement officials that the rapidly evolving technology could be misused by foreign adversaries or corporate criminals to harm the United States. She hopes the announcement will give businessesLeadersRecognize that they have a responsibility to mitigate the risks posed by AI.
The policy disclosure came a day after the Justice Department announced an indictment against a former Google software engineer accused of stealing Google's artificial intelligence trade secrets while secretly working with two Chinese companies.
“All new technologies are double-edged swords, but AI is perhaps the sharpest of them all,” Monaco said at the American Bar Association’s White Collar Lawyers Conference in San Francisco. “It holds the promise of improving our lives, but it also holds enormous dangers when criminals use it to enhance their illegal activities, including corporate crime.”
While the Justice Department is "responsibly leveraging the benefits of AI," she said they are also alert to its risks and will use tools in new ways to address those risks.
Monaco stressed that, as with other crimes, federal prosecutors have long increased penalties for offenders whose behavior is deemed to pose a particularly serious risk to victims and the public. The same principle applies to AI, she said: "When AI is intentionally misused to make white-collar crimes more serious, our prosecutors will seek tougher sentences, both for individual and corporate defendants."
She added: “Compliance officers should take note. When our prosecutors evaluate a company’s compliance program, as they do in all corporate resolutions, they consider how effectively the program mitigates the company’s most significant risks. For a growing number of businesses, this now includes the risk of misuse of AI.”
Monaco called on companies to strengthen the management of artificial intelligence to ensure its proper use, and warned that violations would face more serious legal consequences. The implementation of this policy will guide companies to respond more carefully to the threats of artificial intelligence technology to maintain commercial and national security.