US to do safety testing of new AI models from Google, Microsoft, xAI

US to do safety testing of new AI models from Google, Microsoft, xAIJust nowShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleKali HaysTechnology reporterReutersPresident Donald Trump last year signed executive orders aimed at "winning the AI race"New artificial intelligence (AI) tools and capabilities from Google, Microsoft and xAI will now be tested by the US Department of Commerce before they are released to the public.The tech firms have agreed to voluntarily submit their models for testing through Commerce's Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI).The new pacts are an expansion on agreements by AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic that were reached during the Biden Administration, and will see AI models from all of the companies evaluated for their capabilities and security."These expanded industry collaborations help us scale our work in the public interest at a critical moment," CAISI's director Chris Fall said.Overall, the evaluations of the AI tools will cover "testing, collaborative research and best practice development related to commercial AI systems."Google's best known AI tool, through its DeepMind subsidiary, is Gemini, a chatbot that is widely available on Google products but is now also being used in US defence and military agencies.Microsoft's best known AI tool is CoPilot, while xAI's only AI product in Grok, a chatbot that has come under widespread public scrutiny for issues were it undressed people in images.On Tuesday, CASI said it has conducted 40 previous evaluations of AI tools, including evaluation and testing of certain "state-of-the-art models that remain unreleased."The centre did not specify which models have been stopped from being released to the public.Representatives of Google, Microsoft, and SpaceX, the Elon Musk company that now controls xAI, did not respond to requests for comment.Bringing in more companies for research and safety testing of commercial AI tools marks a d...