(Bloomberg) -- Vice President Kamala Harris called for international cooperation and stricter standards to protect consumers from artificial intelligence, as she delivered a speech laying out the burgeoning risks posed by the technology.

“As history has shown in the absence of regulation and strong government oversight, some technology companies choose to prioritize profit over the wellbeing of their customers, the safety of our communities, and the stability of our democracy,” Harris said at the US Embassy in London on Wednesday.

Harris unveiled a series of steps the White House is taking to address the potential dangers associated with AI. They include a new AI Safety Institute inside the Commerce Department, which will create guidelines and tools for mitigating the dangers posed by the technology. The Office of Management and Budget is also planning to release draft policy guidance on how AI should be used by the US government.

The vice president’s speech is part of a broad effort by the White House to put restrictions on new artificial intelligence tools, which are rapidly coming to market often with little to no oversight from regulators. Harris is in London with other foreign leaders to take part in the AI Security Summit convened by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the country’s former World War II code-breaking center, Bletchley Park. 

Harris also said the US government is working with major foundations, including the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Ford Foundation, and Heising-Simons Foundation, which have committed $200 million to fund AI security efforts. In addition, she said that 30 other countries have joined the US to help establish norms for military use of AI.

The speech comes after President Joe Biden on Monday signed an executive order that empowers the federal government to enact security standards and privacy protections on new AI tools. The order will have broad effects on companies including Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google. The companies will have to submit test results on their new models to the government before releasing them to the public. The directive also calls for AI-generated content to be labeled.

Earlier: Biden Signs Sweeping Order Regulating Artificial Intelligence

The use of AI tools has soared in recent months with the release of platforms, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT app, that are readily accessible to the average consumer. The increased use of the technology has also spurred concerns that the platforms could be used to spread misinformation or that the underlying algorithms are perpetuating bias.

Harris called for swift cooperation between Congress and the White House to pass legislation that will be more durable than executive directives alone. She also said that existing laws addressing privacy, transparency and consumer protection can be used to govern AI products.

“These laws and regulations are enforceable and currently apply to AI companies,” she said.

Several governing bodies, including the United Nations and the Group of Seven, are actively seeking to establish rules-of-the-road for artificial intelligence. The European Union is arguably the farthest along, with its AI Act expected to become law by the end of the year.

The Biden administration’s swift response to rein in AI is in contrast with how Washington has generally approached emerging technologies. Efforts to oversee social media platforms have languished for years, leaving many disputes to be settled in court, including a landmark federal antitrust case the Justice Department is pursuing against Google.

The AI Summit has proved to be a starting point for international cooperation on AI. The US, China and 26 other nations on Wednesday signed a joint declaration at the summit, agreeing to work together to protect against the potential for artificial intelligence to cause “catastrophic harm.”

Sunak hailed the agreement as a “landmark achievement” that marks the willingness of the world’s greatest AI powers to collaborate on regulating the emerging technology. China’s involvement is particularly significant, given fraught relations that exist with western nations over areas like trade, security and human rights.

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, announcing the creation of a US institute to vet new AI models, reminded nations in a speech on Wednesday that they will continue to “compete vigorously on AI,” but added “we must find global solutions to global problems.” The UK has also created its own AI safety organization.

When asked if the US was trying to steal the UK’s thunder, UK Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden told Bloomberg TV that the “opposite” is happening, and the nations “are working hand in glove together.”

--With assistance from Akayla Gardner, Thomas Seal and Lizzy Burden.

(Updates with details, contents of speech starting in second paragraph.)

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