NSF and philanthropic partners invest more than $18M to prioritize ethical and societal considerations in the creation of emerging technologies; U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), September 23, 2024

 U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF); NSF and philanthropic partners invest more than $18M to prioritize ethical and societal considerations in the creation of emerging technologies

"The U.S. National Science Foundation announced an inaugural investment of more than $18 million to 44 multidisciplinary, multi-sector teams across the U.S. through the NSF Responsible Design, Development and Deployment of Technologies (NSF ReDDDoT) program. NSF ReDDDoT invests in the creation of technologies that promote the public's well-being and mitigate potential harms by seeking to ensure that ethical, legal, community and societal considerations are embedded in the lifecycle of technology's creation and use. NSF launched this program in collaboration with leading philanthropic partners including the Ford Foundation, the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation and Siegel Family Endowment.

"NSF is committed to creating mutually beneficial research collaborations among diverse partners who contribute their expertise and resources to accelerating technology innovation that positively addresses pressing national, societal and geostrategic challenges," said Erwin Gianchandani, assistant director for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships. "Through a robust public-private partnership with philanthropies, NSF's investment in ReDDDoT aims to ensure that TIP advances the design, development and deployment of new technologies responsibly. This investment is consistent with the 'CHIPS and Science Act of 2022,' in which Congress called upon TIP to invest in exactly this approach when pursuing the key technology areas listed in that law."

NSF awarded 30 teams Phase 1 funding: 21 teams will receive planning grants of up to $300,000 each for up to two years to facilitate collaborative transdisciplinary and multi-sector activities to plan for submission of larger proposals, while an additional nine teams will receive Phase 1 funding of up to $75,000 each to plan and host workshops designed to raise awareness and identify relevant approaches and needs in the key technology areas identified in the "CHIPS and Science Act of 2022."

Additionally, NSF awarded Phase 2 funding to 14 teams that demonstrated maturity in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, or natural and anthropogenic disaster prevention or mitigation, key technology areas in the statute that TIP emphasized for ReDDDoT funding. Each Phase 2 team will receive up to $1.5 million over three years to expand upon their identified experience in use-inspired and translational activities in responsible design, development and deployment of innovative technology.

The ReDDDoT program invited proposals from teams that examined and demonstrated the principles, methodologies and impacts associated with ethical, legal, community and societal considerations of technology's creation and use, especially those specified in the "CHIPS and Science Act of 2022."NSF anticipates issuing a second ReDDDoT funding opportunity in the future that will build on this round of funding to ensure ethical, legal, community, and societal considerations are embedded in the lifecycle of technology’s creation.

NSF ReDDDot Awardees

Awardees are grouped by award type and then listed in alphabetical order by organization. The full award list can be found on NSF Award Search webpage."

A bill to protect performers from unauthorized AI heads to California governor; NPR, August 30, 2024

Mandalit del Barco, NPR; A bill to protect performers from unauthorized AI heads to California governor

"Other proposed guardrails

In addition to AB2602, the performer’s union is backing California bill AB 1836 to protect deceased performers’ intellectual property from digital replicas.

On a national level, entertainment industry stakeholders, from SAG-AFTRA to The Recording Academy and the MPA, and others are supporting The “NO FAKES Act” (the Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe Act) introduced in the Senate. That law would make creating a digital replica of any American illegal.

Around the country, legislators have proposed hundreds of laws to regulate AI more generally. For example, California lawmakers recently passed the Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act (SB 1047), which regulates AI models such as ChatGPT.

“It's vital and it's incredibly urgent because legislation, as we know, takes time, but technology matures exponentially. So we're going to be constantly fighting the battle to stay ahead of this,” said voice performer Zeke Alton, a member of SAG-AFTRA’s negotiating committee. “If we don't get to know what's real and what's fake, that is starting to pick away at the foundations of democracy.”

Alton says in the fight for AI protections of digital doubles, Hollywood performers have been the canary in the coal mine. “We are having this open conversation in the public about generative AI and it and using it to replace the worker instead of having the worker use it as a tool for their own efficiency,” he said. “But it's coming for every other industry, every other worker. That's how big this sea change in technology is. So what happens here is going to reverberate.”"

Pueblo artist seeking copyright protection for AI-generated work; The Gazette, August 8, 2024

 O'Dell Isaac , The Gazette; Pueblo artist seeking copyright protection for AI-generated work

"“We’re done with the Copyright Office,” he said. “Now we’re going into the court system.”

Allen said he believes his case raises two essential questions: What is art? And if a piece doesn’t belong to the artist, whom does it belong to?

Tara Thomas, director of the Bemis School of Arts at Colorado College, said the answers may not be clear-cut.

“There was a similar debate at the beginning of photography,” Thomas said. "Was it the camera, or was it the person taking the photos? Is the camera the artmaker, or is it a tool?”

Allen said it took more than two decades for photography to gain acceptance as an art form.

“We’re at a similar place in AI art,” he said. 

“Right now, there is a massive stigma surrounding AI, far more so than there was with photography, so the challenge is much steeper. It is that very stigma that is contributing to the stifling of innovation. Why would anybody want to incorporate AI art into their workflow if they knew they couldn’t protect their work?”"

‘This Is Going to Be Painful’: How a Bold A.I. Device Flopped; The New York Times, June 6, 2024

 Tripp Mickle and Erin Griffith, The New York Times ; ‘This Is Going to Be Painful’: How a Bold A.I. Device Flopped

"As of early April, Humane had received around 10,000 orders for the Ai Pin, a small fraction of the 100,000 that it hoped to sell this year, two people familiar with its sales said. In recent months, the company has also grappled with employee departures and changed a return policy to address canceled orders. On Wednesday, it asked customers to stop using the Ai Pin charging case because of a fire risk associated with its battery.

Its setbacks are part of a pattern of stumbles across the world of generative A.I., as companies release unpolished products. Over the past two years, Google has introduced and pared back A.I. search abilities that recommended people eat rocks, Microsoft has trumpeted a Bing chatbot that hallucinated and Samsung has added A.I. features to a smartphone that were called “excellent at times and baffling at others.”"

Public Symposium on AI and IP; United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Wednesday, March 27, 2024 10 AM - 3 PM PT/1 PM - 6 PM ET

United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); Public Symposium on AI and IP

"The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Emerging Technologies (ET) Partnership will hold a public symposium on intellectual property (IP) and AI. The event will take place virtually and in-person at Loyola Law School, Loyola Marymount University, in Los Angeles, California, on March 27, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. PT. 

The symposium will facilitate the USPTO’s efforts to implement its obligations under the President’s Executive Order (E.O.) 14110 “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence.” The event will include representation from the Copyright Office, build on previous AI/Emerging Technologies (ET) partnership events, and feature panel discussions by experts in the field of patent, trademark, and copyright law that focus on:

1. A comparison of copyright and patent law approaches to the type and level of human contribution needed to satisfy authorship and inventorship requirements;
2. Ongoing copyright litigation involving generative AI; and 
3. A discussion of laws and policy considerations surrounding name, image, and likeness (NIL) issues, including the intersection of NIL and generative AI.

This event is free and open to the public, but in-person attendance is limited, so register early"

Inventorship guidance for AI-assisted inventions webinar; United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), March 5, 2024 1 PM - 2 PM ET

United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) ; Inventorship guidance for AI-assisted inventions webinar

"The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) plays an important role in incentivizing and protecting innovation, including innovation enabled by artificial intelligence (AI), to ensure continued U.S. leadership in AI and other emerging technologies (ET).

The USPTO announced Inventorship Guidance for AI-Assisted Inventions in the Federal Register. This guidance is pursuant to President Biden's Executive Order 14110 on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence (October 30, 2023) with provisions addressing IP equities. The guidance, which is effective on February 13, 2024, provides instructions to USPTO personnel and stakeholders on determining the correct inventor(s) to be named in a patent or patent application for inventions created by humans with the assistance of one or more AI systems. 

The USPTO will host a webinar on Inventorship Guidance for AI-Assisted Inventions on Tuesday, March 5, from 1-2 p.m. EST. USPTO personnel will provide an overview of the guidance and answer stakeholder questions relating to the guidance.

This event is free and open to the public, but virtual space is limited, so please register early."