US Department Of Homeland Security Announces AI Special Council For Critical Infrastructure

US Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas (photo: x @AliMayorkas).

JAKARTA - The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Friday 26 April announced the establishment of a board consisting of OpenAI CEO Microsoft, parent company Google Alphabet, and Nvidia that will advise the government on the role of artificial intelligence in critical infrastructure.

The board will develop recommendations for the transportation sector, pipeline operators and power grids, internet service providers, and others to "prevent and prepare for AI-related disruptions to critical services that affect national or economic security, public health, or safety."

The Minister of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, told reporters that this council will help ensure the safe application of AI technology and how to overcome the threats posed by this technology to vital services such as energy, utilities, transportation, defense, information technology, food and agriculture, and financial services.

"This is not a council that will focus on theory, but rather on practical solutions to the implementation of AI in the daily lives of our nation," Mayorkas told reporters. "It is very important to involve key developers of this incredibly powerful tool" in this council.

The 22-member board includes technology leaders such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins, Amazon Web Services CEO Adam Selipsky, and Advanced Micro Devices CEO Lisa Su.

The council also includes Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian, OCTental Petroleum CEO Hollub, and Northrop Grumman CEO Kathy Pribet, and Maryland Governor Wes Moore, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, and the head of the White House's Science and Technology Policy Office.

The board will meet for the first time next month with plans for regular meetings every quarter.

DHS warns in its 2024 threat assessment that AI aids have "potentials to enable larger cyberattacks scaled, faster, more efficient, and more difficult to detect" against targets, including pipelines, railroads, and other critical US infrastructure. "

They also said that China and other parties are developing "an AI technology that could undermine US cyber defenses, including a generative AI program that supports malicious activity such as malware attacks."