Comment by Jenn Taylor Hodges

In their report, NTIA rightly notes that “current evidence is not sufficient to definitively determine either that restrictions on such open-weight models are warranted or that restrictions will never be appropriate in the future.” Instead of recommending restrictions, NTIA suggests that the government “actively monitor…risks that could arise from dual-use foundation models with widely available model weights and take steps to ensure that the government is prepared to act if heightened risks emerge.” NTIA’s recommendations for collecting and evaluating relevant evidence include support for external research, increasing transparency, and bolstering federal government expert capabilities. We welcome this approach, and in our comments we called for governments to play a role in “promoting and funding research”; we agree that it will help us all better understand and navigate the AI landscape.