This Former DeepMind Exec Thinks the AI Arms Race Could End in Disaster
Former DeepMind executive Verity Harding argues that framing AI development as an 'arms race' between superpowers hinders international cooperation. She suggests this narrative encourages nationalist policies and risks excluding smaller nations from the benefits of AI.
Why it matters
It challenges the prevailing geopolitical narrative surrounding AI, suggesting that current rhetoric may lead to suboptimal global safety and ethical outcomes.
That’s Verity Harding’s conceit. Between 2016 and 2020, Harding spent her days briefing politicians across the globe, from Barack Obama to Emmanuel Macron, on advances in AI. As the head of global public policy at Google DeepMind, Harding was responsible for mapping out ethical conundrums and potential risks. Back then, she told WIRED in a recent interview, AI research “was rooted in international cooperation.” But somewhere along the way, the industry began to be shaped instead by rivalries—between individual labs like Anthropic and OpenAI and between two global superpowers: the US and China. The AI arms race became the metaphor du jour.
The framing critiques nationalist rhetoric and emphasizes international cooperation, which aligns with a more globalist policy perspective.
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