14 global tech giants adopt business pledge on 'responsible' development of AI

By Kim Na-young

SEOUL, May 22 (Yonhap) -- A group of South Korean and global tech companies adopted a joint pledge on Wednesday, vowing to responsibly develop and use artificial intelligence (AI) and to address social challenges with the technology.

The Seoul AI Business Pledge was announced by 14 companies, including Korea's Samsung Electronics Co., Naver Corp., Kakao Corp. and KT Corp. as well as global big tech companies, such as Google, OpenAI and IBM, during the opening ceremony of the AI Global Forum in Seoul.

The AI Global Forum is part of the two-day AI Seoul Summit co-hosted by South Korea and Britain as a follow-up to last year's inaugural global AI safety summit, where the first global guidelines on AI safety were adopted.

"We commit to upholding the three strategic priorities, through our efforts including advancing AI safety research, identifying best practices, collaborating across sectors, and helping AI meet society's greatest challenges," the pledge read.

The three priorities are: ensuring responsible development and use of AI, pursuing sustainable development and innovation in AI, and ensuring the equitable benefits of AI for all.

In the pledge, the companies acknowledge the rapid acceleration of technological advancements in AI and their growing impact on the global community. They vowed to work to ensure responsible AI development in line with the Seoul Declaration adopted by the AI Seoul Summit the previous day.

The Seoul Declaration called for promoting safe, innovative and inclusive AI to address challenges and opportunities associated with the fast-evolving technology.

The AI Global Forum is taking place on Wednesday with representatives from 19 countries, including the United States, Japan, Germany, France and Italy, attending the ministers' session to discuss actions to strengthen AI safety.

Industry officials, including Jason Kwon, chief strategy officer of OpenAI, and Tom Lue, vice president of Google DeepMind, are set to join roundtable discussions.

nyway@yna.co.kr
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