Transcript
0:00 AI taking center stage at an all-star star gathering of tech talent at the White House yesterday which culminated in the signing of the White House accord on super intelligence. Brad Gersner was in attendance. He's the founder and CEO of Alt Alimter Capital. And Brad, this is something that we've heard from kind of all sides on this today that this was a very important summit yesterday. We did speak earlier with Jay Clayton, the director of national intelligence, who said that 308 words, but it's very important because it lays out legal issues and legal responsibilities for these companies. We were also joined a little bit earlier by Sebastian Malib who is the author of the the biography of Demis Hassabis and he said this is very important because of who it got in the room including Dario Mode. the idea that the industry is kind of all on board at this point really matters. What's your takeaway from what you saw yesterday?
0:56 >> well, it's great to be here and you know, first let's just start where we are. I mean, this has been an incredible year for AI. you know, under the leadership of the president and and all these labs, we're leading the world the mo the best frontier AI in the world. We've created a million new jobs from AI when a lot of people said the jobs were going to be destroyed. So, you know, we are off to a really good start. But everybody in that room, right, those are parents. They care not just about speed, not just about economic growth. They also care about making sure this is safe and beneficial to all Americans. And so the fact that the president could get everybody together on such short notice and achieve something historical, the White House accord on AI laid out a framework, a sarbain oxley if you will, of internal and external controls for the industry. We we marry that with already the the model frontier framework that reviews all the models before they're released that I talked about on air last week. We now have the best regulatory framework for AI in the world. This president has said there is no safe unless we are fast. Whoever wins AI wins. This got us on the all all on the same page of not only going fast and winning the world of AI, but doing it in a way that's safe and that wins for everybody in the United States. So I think you can't overstate the significance of yesterday and the framework it lays out going forward.
2:26 Brad, the criticism will come from sectors where they say, "Wait a second, there aren't enough teeth in this." This is something that the president himself has said is morally binding. There are questions about any legal binding measures. >> Well, of course, you guys have talked at at length with Jay Clayton this morning about all the laws that are on the books already. You know, liability laws, you you know, product laws. the Justice Department can enforce those, the FBI can enforce those, national security laws. But you know, I'm sitting here in Washington and Washington does Washington. There will never be enough regulation. There are people on Capitol Hill just behind me that want to give the corporate death penalty to companies if there's a violation. They want to put people in jail for 20 years, even before AI takes flight. I'll tell you this, if you want to talk about what is really threatening to the American public, you impose those sort of regulatory constraints on an industry that's barely taken flight and we allow the Chinese to fly ahead. There is no safety off the frontier. This guarantees American leadership. And this was the president doing what the president does best, leading from the front, getting everybody in the room using the power of the bully pulpit. And I will tell you, sitting around the table, he went around and he challenged everybody to do more. What are you doing to help local communities? You know, he wants to see more people giving more bonuses to teachers. He wants to see more companies giving more free electricity in the towns where they're building data centers. I think it's brilliant. We ought to have an American AI dividend where we have free electricity wherever we're building a data center. So, he's pushing on that front. He was also saying that, you know, we have to have these internal and external controls and give confidence to the American public and show the real benefits to them. So, this is a president, I think, doing what he does best, engaging with the leaders. You know, I was at the the dinner last week with President Xi, and it's the same thing. Historic. We've never had more than one meeting between the presidents of these two countries in a single year.
4:27 And this year, we're going to have four meetings between President Xi and President Trump. That's how you engage. That's how you lead to a world that is both safer and more prosperous. And I think he was doing the same thing yesterday with AI. And I can tell you from Dario Amade to Jeff Bezos to Elon Musk, the idea that this just happens that you get all these signatures on a page. I can tell you it doesn't happen.
4:51 There was tremendous wrangling to get everybody in the room. Then everybody gets in the room and he got everybody on the same page. I think even everybody in the room was surprised and impressed by what the president was able to pull off yesterday. This is now an industry that is moving together in unison. And if you will on this agreement, it wasn't just the things we agreed to. We agreed also to continue to meet regularly with the president, all the leaders of these companies. So it's not just a framework that is static. It is a framework that will evolve to make sure that the US stays on the frontier. Again, I think it was a really important moment. And for those calling for increased regulation, all I would say is this. As the technology evolves, we will of course need to do more things. Right? This is an incredible step forward that I hope on a bipartisan basis everybody can get behind because it was much needed and it occurred in record time.
5:45 >> Brad, I'll just go back to other kind of fledgling moments for industry. You can look back at social media. You can look back at, you know, internet retail. They also looked for kind of protection from existing laws. That's not what you're calling for here. you you are saying that there shouldn't be additional regulation necessarily specifically for AI, but you are not calling for a section 230 or or something that would offer protections to this industry that apply to other industries already.
6:15 >> I think very very explicitly we're saying that's not happening, right? You're responsible for the products that you create, the products that you distribute, but what we want to make sure that we have is the most resilient regulatory and self-regulatory framework that we can bring to bear without smothering the industry. Remember, we have dual objectives here, fast and safe, right? And to hear Daario Amade say yesterday, we're gonna go fast and safe. We're not going to allow the Chinese to win the race. Those are historic things. And I think a lot of people last week were pitting these labs against one another, creating this this false choice that we either have to be fast or safe. That is that that's not true. We found the way forward. We're finding the right balance. and so nobody is saying, you know, relieve these labs or relieve these companies of any responsibility. They're saying just the opposite. And the Sarbain Oxley approach that you're taking here where they certify that they're doing these things, I think, puts them on the hook for that. So, you know, again, it is an incredible first step forward, but we have to make sure first and foremost, this has to benefit every American.
7:24 We're already seeing great benefits. You know, over 35% of the searches, I think on Chat GBT are moms and dads asking about health care concerns they have for their children or themselves. And I can tell you as one of those fathers in the room, and remember, there are a lot of parents in that room who care a lot about the future we're creating for our kids. The president said at the start, there are Democrats at this table. There are Republicans at this table. There are centrists at this table. He said, "This is one of the most important meetings ever to occur in this room in the 250 years of the White House. I'm bringing everybody together because we all have to be on team America, fighting for America, making sure we deliver benefits for Main Street America." That's what we all heard. It was refreshing. It wasn't political. you know, it was really about how do we do the best thing to drive the agenda forward for the American people.
8:14 >> Brad, you said that, you know, the idea of pitting these labs against each other. I don't I don't think we've done that. I think the labs have kind of pitted themselves against each other for a long time. You had Elon there yesterday and Sam Alman obviously they don't see eye to eye. Elon sued him, took him to court. and they've had pretty nasty things to say about each other both on and off the record for a long time. However, what we saw three weeks ago when Daria Amod put out his call to action on this and had both Sam Alman and Elon Musk saying that they agreed with it. It What was the mood in the room yesterday? Was it one of agreement? Was it one of some caution because they know their competitors deep down too?
8:55 no. I the it was a remarkable you know, room of cander, a room of commitment to America first, really making sure that America wins the global AI race. the president set the tone, you know, at the start of the meeting, making sure that this is about main street Americans, right? That when we're building data centers, those towns have to benefit, the teachers have to benefit, the firefighters have to benefit. you know, this is about moms and dads making sure that we get the tools of health care and education in the pockets of those kids. And and yes, listen, we're going to have robust debates. Not everybody is going to agree on everything with respect to this technology. but if you would have told the American public or or a lot of the analysts or a lot of the critics on Capitol Hill that Daario Amade, that Elon Musk, that Greg, you know, Brockman, that Jensen Hang, that Satcha Bezos, we're all going to be in that room yesterday. And we're all going to be fighting to put America in position to not only win the race, but to do it safely and to do it in a way that drives our economy as well. This is going to create massive jobs for our economy. I think it was a a real legendary move in state state craft to bring that together and there was a spirit of can do right Dario when the president asked him a question said sir what I mean by pacing the frontier is fast and safe we have to win the war you know the global race in terms of AI and we're going to go fast and so I think it gave an opportunity for people to clarify their positions it gave people an opportunity to debate positions in the room and so it was it was very open, very candid. The president invited every everybody to participate in the conversation.
10:39 >> Brad, when you say the president pushed on things like making sure the communities see the good, I guess, when a when a data center is built there, making sure that they get free electricity, making sure the teachers get bonuses, things along those lines. Did anybody answer the call at that moment and say, "Yes, we're going to make sure we do that." you had a lot of the people who are building the data centers there from you know Bezos with Amazon to Sachin Adella from Microsoft and others who spoke up at that point >> well first the president complimented Mark Zuckerberg because they in fact are doing this in the Louisiana data center buildout incredible what they're doing with their community there Dina Pal has helped lead the charge and set the standards for what we need to be doing for these communities across America Satcha Nadella and the story up in Quincy Washington where a town that was under duress and I think the average income under $40,000 is now you know really dealing with economic abundance.
11:33 It's been incredibly beneficial. We got to tell these stories and the president said I want to replicate those stories. I want you to do more. So stay tuned. I was tempted to pass the hat in the room and get the commitments right there. But I think we'll be announcing in the future an American AI not AI an American super intelligence dividend where every local community is really getting the benefits of this. I think they've set the blueprint. Now we need to further flush that out, make sure that everybody else follows.
11:59 >> Hey Brad, two quick questions for you. One was the document that was signed was it written in advance of the meeting? Was there a draft that you started with? How did and if so, how did it change? >> Yeah, great question, Andrew. There were lots of drafts. The pre the president and the president's staff invited, you know, people to suggest different alternatives. This was one of those alternatives. I think it had the benefit of being the most succinct following basically a regulatory framework that public companies were very familiar with which was Sarbain Oxley and again what got everybody comfortable was that it's a living breathing document there were four incredibly important points here around internal controls external controls independent >> you know Brad I think what I'm trying to understand just in terms of how it came together was prior to the to the launch did a call go out to everybody say look >> everybody here come with your own document Did they say let's pre-negotiate this so that by the time we get to the lunch we can agree on 90% of it and we're going to change these five words. Was there a discussion about changing the five words in the meeting?
13:03 >> The document was circulated among a lot of the labs ahead of time. They were word smithing this trying to get to a place that everybody could agree. There was a little bit more of that. We actually read the document around the table word for word so that people in the meeting could actually have input in the meeting. and then once there was basically universal agreement you know the there was a signing event where they went to actually sign the document but you know >> what was changed during the lunch.
13:32 >> you know I can't tell you the specific wording that was changed. I think there was a little tuning but I think most of the tuning had occurred before the launch but it gave people an opportunity to say hey I think over over the next you know months and years ahead we're going to need to make some of these things more robust or perhaps add other things. In fact, the president said at some point in time we may need to codify this more formally etc. and if we do we'll do that. So there everybody demonstrated a willingness to evolve with the technology but everybody agreed this was a critically important step forward.
14:04 >> What did you make of the idea that there was no representative from Apple there? I think there was a whole bunch of people who have sort of taken note of the fact that Tim who obviously has a Tim Cook has a very close relationship with the president wasn't there. John Turnis wasn't there. Does that say something about where they live in the AI stack? or does that say something about their travel schedule? >> I would say nothing burger. you know, Tim Cook was sitting next to the president at the Shei dinner last week.
14:28 I was there on Thursday night. I I can assure you they're very much read in on all of this. and I suspect they agree with all of it. You saw who the signatories were. They were the ones who are really pushing the frontier on model development. but I'm certain that Tim and Apple will have you know, their voices heard in the conversation. >> Brad, thank you. >> It's great.