The leaders of Anthropic, Google, Meta, OpenAI, Nvidia and xAI recently joined President Trump at the White House to sign a voluntary accord on artificial intelligence.
asserted
leaders → join → intelligence
The harder question, which remains to be seen, is whether it will earn the confidence of the people expected to live and work with these systems, who have been increasingly resistant to AI proliferation.
asserted
who → remain → proliferation
America cannot win the AI race if Americans are afraid to use AI.
I often say that one of the biggest challenges we have to fear about AI is the fear of AI itself.
asserted
we → win → AI
That fear is becoming a national liability.
asserted
fear → become → ?
In a new EqualAI survey conducted by YouGov, 46% of Americans said they would be uncomfortable with a company using AI in a way that involves them or their data, regardless of safeguards.
asserted
that → conduct → safeguards
Yet 71% said a positive experience with an AI system would increase their confidence in it, and 63% said the same of a positive evaluation by independent scientists.
asserted
% → say → scientists
That 63% is an important window into mechanisms to trust — and offers a bridge to build it.
asserted
% → trust → it
People do not want assurances; they want verification.
asserted
they → want → verification
AI will deliver for our economy, national security and competitiveness in the ways we are envisioning only if Americans actually use it.
asserted
Americans → deliver → it
A nurse who does not trust an AI-enabled diagnostic tool will not rely on it.
asserted
who → trust → it
A manufacturer that cannot understand what its AI agents are doing will not deploy them at scale.
asserted
agents → understand → scale
That is why we need to be thoughtful when discussing "pause," because if it does not include capable competitors, such as Chinese companies, the technology continues to advance but elsewhere and without the guardrails we’d like to establish.
asserted
we → need → guardrails
The question we need to answer is: what will make Americans confident enough to adopt AI?
asserted
Americans → need → AI
The debate is too often framed as more rules versus fewer rules.
asserted
debate → frame → rules
A more useful dialogue centers on how we can build the governance capacity to let AI scale.
asserted
AI → center → capacity
The public is telling us we have work to do.
asserted
we → tell → work
A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 73% of Americans believe AI companies have not done enough to prevent serious harm from their technology; 55% said they would support slowing AI development.
asserted
they → find → development
The EqualAI polling points to what could change that equation: 63% want independent scientific review of AI systems, while 60% support third-party audits.
uncertain
% → change → audits
Sixty-eight percent say it is essential to be able to correct wrong information, and 65% say the ability to appeal an AI-driven decision is essential.
asserted
ability → say → decision
When I testified before the House Select Committee, I heard strong, bipartisan interest in getting this right.
asserted
this → testify → interest
My message was straightforward: American leadership on AI requires leadership in AI governance.
asserted
leadership → require → governance
Congress can use authorities it already has, including procurement, agency governance, and consumer protection, as well as clarifying AI-specific protections, such as establishing definitions and protocols for AI incident reporting, as they’ve done for cyber incidents, and defined accountability for AI use cases with higher risk levels and making AI literacy a national competitiveness priority.
asserted
literacy → use → levels
And companies don't need to wait for Washington.
asserted
companies → need → Washington
Every leadership team deploying AI should ensure they’ve taken these four steps:
First, make AI visible.
asserted
AI → deploy → steps
You cannot govern what you cannot see.
asserted
you → govern → what
Organizations should know the Who, What, Where, When and How: where AI is deployed, what it can do and access, who owns it, when it will be tested and how unexpected outcomes will be addressed.
asserted
outcomes → know → it
The underlying questions are not: Who evaluates AI systems?
asserted
Who → underlie → systems
Against what benchmarks? And what happens when a system fails?
asserted
system → happen → ?
Define incidents and ensure all responsible parties understand escalation pathways and reporting obligations.
asserted
parties → define → pathways
We also need the federal government to establish these
Fourth, require accountability.
asserted
government → need → accountability
Every organization should have a point person for deployments in certain risk categories.
asserted
organization → have → categories
As AI becomes more agentic, systems can take actions rather than simply generate information.
asserted
systems → become → information
Responsible officers should ensure an agent only has the minimum access required.
asserted
agent → ensure → access
Finally, ensure your workforce and families are AI literate.
asserted
workforce → ensure → ?
People do not need to become engineers.
asserted
People → need → ?
They need to understand what AI can and cannot do, when to question it and when human judgment must remain in charge.
asserted
judgment → need → charge
We have navigated technological inflection points before.
asserted
We → navigate → points
Cars did not become less innovative when we established licenses, traffic lights and global safety standards.
asserted
we → become → licenses
Those institutions made mass adoption possible.
asserted
adoption → make → ?
Governance accelerates trust and as a result, adoption.
asserted
Governance → accelerate → adoption
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
