Microsoft CEO: "A Brake Is Needed to Let Administrators Stop AI in an Emergency"
"AI control requires management at the level of insider risk"
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said AI systems need a safeguard that allows an administrator to immediately shut them down in an emergency. He said they need risk management and controls comparable to those applied to insiders with critical authority within a company, as a precaution.
On October 11 local time, Nadella posted an article titled "Models as Insider Risks in the Age of Superintelligence" on X, the social media platform, saying that AI control requires a stronger management response. Analysts believe he used the term "superintelligence (SI)" instead of "artificial intelligence (AI)" in response to a recent executive order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump directing that AI be referred to as SI.
Nadella argued that AI systems need safeguards that allow their behavior to be continuously monitored, their limits to be tested, and them to be controlled at any time. "An appropriately authorized administrator should be able to pause or shut down AI operations at any time in an emergency," he said, advocating the introduction of a brake function as a safeguard.
"AI needs to be designed to separate its information-provision capabilities from its control authority," he said. "Whether a model is closed or open source, advanced AI should be managed as a risk comparable to that posed by insiders with critical authority within a company." In other words, companies should apply to AI the stringent controls they have adopted to manage insider risks, including identity verification, access restrictions, and activity logging.
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His remarks are expected to influence recent calls to slow the pace of AI development and concerns over its safety. Some companies and experts have said safeguards and international standards are needed to prepare for situations in which advanced AI behaves contrary to human intentions or causes large-scale errors.
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