Why AI vetting is freaking people out - Politico

The White House is considering an executive order to require government pre-approval for releasing frontier AI models. Because nothing says 'innovation' like having to ask your ham-fisted uncle for permission before you open the toy. The tech policy and industry circles are 'freaking out,' which is exactly the reaction one hopes for from a regulation that reads like it was designed by a committee of people who've only read about AI in Tom Clancy novels.

They wanted clear, consistent rules to build around; they got a bureaucratic bottleneck that would make the DMV look like a speed-dating event. One imagines the order will specify a 'frontier AI model' as any model that could plausibly write a tweet about the cancellation of the F-35, or something equally tangible.

In practice, pre-approval means that the most advanced AI systems will either be delayed until Congress figures out its own login credentials, or they'll be outsourced to jurisdictions with less paternalistic impulses. Either way, the American AI sector gets to spend the next few years filling out forms instead of building things. But hey — at least someone in government is taking an interest. That's the first step, right? Right?