Amba Kak (@ambaonadventure) / X

Amba Kak

800 posts

Amba Kak

@ambaonadventure

co-executive director @ainowinstitute | @signalapp board | former: sr. advisor on AI @FTC @ambakak.bsky.social

Joined November 2016

Amba Kak
@ambaonadventure
Nov 19, 2021
Finally able to share the news! I am joining the FTC as a Senior Advisor on AI. Honored by the opportunity to contribute to the Agency’s critical work. And to work with (and learn from!) this stellar team @mer__edith @sarahbmyers , @oliviersylvain and John Kwoka.
FTC
@FTC
Nov 19, 2021
FTC Chair Lina M. Khan announces new appointments in agency leadership positions: go.usa.gov/xe5A9
Amba Kak
@ambaonadventure
Sep 5, 2024
Thrilled to have our work recognized as central in holding a notoriously impervious industry to account time.com/7012875/amba-k… #TIME100AI There's power in saying the unpopular thing, even if there is also discomfort :) Grateful to team @AINowInstitute and those we walk with ❤️
TIME100 AI 2024: Amba Kak
From time.com
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Amba Kak
@ambaonadventure
Apr 3, 2023
Amidst the deluge last week, I spoke to @annielowery of @TheAtlantic about AI regulation in the US. What will it take to ensure that the tech industry doesn’t set the terms of the debate? A clear-eyed focus on the present (1/4)
AI Isn’t Omnipotent. It’s Janky.
From theatlantic.com
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Amba Kak
@ambaonadventure
Apr 14, 2023
"It’s important that the onus be on the corporations to show us these things before deployment, rather than understaffed agencies auditing or inquiring about them after the fact." - @timnitGebru 🎯 on the kind of "transparency" interventions we need.
Timnit Gebru's anti-'AI pause'
From politico.com
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Amba Kak
@ambaonadventure
Nov 9, 2023
AI policy flurry reached a crescendo last week, more mixed signals in an already noisy year. .@sarahbmyers & I make sense of its multiple legacies, many of which must be undone: theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/… (1/4)
The AI Debate Is Happening in a Cocoon
From theatlantic.com
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Amba Kak
@ambaonadventure
Nov 16, 2023
So proud of @signalapp for saying the quiet part loud. Evading the reality of these infrastructural dependencies prevents progress towards bold policy change. This blog is required reading for anyone thinking about alternatives to the surveillance biz model.
Signal
@signalapp
Nov 16, 2023
Signal is a nonprofit. But what does this mean in practice? Today we do something most tech co’s avoid: talk money. What does it cost for Signal to play in a lane dominated by billion $ corporations, while rejecting the surveillance business model? 1/ signal.org/blog/signal-is…
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Amba Kak
@ambaonadventure
Apr 11, 2023
AI Now's 2023 report is out! Our intent was to galvanize momentum towards a policy strategy to challenge concentrated tech power across multiple fronts: AI regulation, data minimization, competition policy, trade & industrial policy, worker surveillance rules & more
AI Now Institute
@AINowInstitute
Apr 11, 2023
Today we launched AI Now’s 2023 Landscape Report. In it, we put forth an actionable policy strategy to confront concentration of power in the tech industry. Read more: ainowinstitute.org/2023-landscape
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Amba Kak
@ambaonadventure
Feb 12, 2024
NEW: Do we need “public AI” ? It depends on what we mean by public and whose interests this will serve. In this essay @ForeignPolicy, we scrutinize the National AI Research Resource, the latest in a global wave of industrial policies for AI: foreignpolicy.com/2024/02/12/ai-…
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Amba Kak
@ambaonadventure
Jul 12, 2024
Data privacy regulation is AI regulation, with its full suite of protections: from data minimization to algorithmic discrimination. I focused our testimony on the future we're committing ourselves to without such a law (never mind that its prospects remain bleak, as ever)
AI Now Institute
@AINowInstitute
Jul 12, 2024
Yesterday @ambaonadventure testified to @commercedems on privacy threats in the age of AI. "Without rules of the road for AI, we’re committing ourselves to more of the same: the extractive, invasive, and often predatory practices that have characterized the past decade." Watch:
00:00
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Amba Kak
@ambaonadventure
Sep 27, 2023
Required reading. Come for the in-depth but highly accessible explanations of concentration at every layer of the AI compute stack; stay for the profound questions it asks of the desirability + sustainability of this tech paradigm in the first place.
AI Now Institute
@AINowInstitute
Sep 27, 2023
🚨NEW REPORT surveys the state of compute, a core dependency in building large-scale AI. We review the hardware, software, and infrastructure needed for AI––and how the government can regulate for competition rather than concentration. ainowinstitute.org/publication/po…
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Amba Kak
@ambaonadventure
Apr 3, 2023
Replying to @ambaonadventure
Is OpenAI following the law that exists *today*? Unlikely. Let’s lose the focus on building “AI policy” from a blank slate. Look to data protection, consumer protection, copyright & competition law to capture broader concerns + take advantage of levers we already have (2/4)
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Amba Kak
@ambaonadventure
Jun 15, 2021
The new EU #AI rules posit "human oversight" as an antidote for 'high-risk AI systems'. In a new piece for @FutureTenseNow, @benzevgreen & I challenge this increasingly popular policy fix >>
AI Now Institute
@AINowInstitute
Jun 15, 2021
“The limits of human oversight of AI do not simply require facilitating better human-algorithm collaborations—instead, they expose tensions around whether algorithms should be involved in certain decisions at all.” @ambaonadventure + @benzevgreen on @Slate slate.trib.al/GFeOh9Q
Amba Kak
@ambaonadventure
Dec 5, 2023
The OpenAI board saga was convoluted and often obscure from the outside, but there's one loud & clear lesson from what we do know: those with money make the rules. With @sarahbmyers & @mer__edith in @techreview: technologyreview.com/2023/12/05/108…
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Amba Kak
@ambaonadventure
Mar 27, 2023
“As you have machine learning that depends on huge amounts of data and also a huge amount of storage, we need to be very vigilant to make sure that this is not just another site for big companies to become bigger,” @linakhanFTC
bloomberg.com
FTC Is Reviewing Competition in Artificial Intelligence
The US Federal Trade Commission is paying close attention to developments in artificial intelligence to ensure the field isn’t dominated by the major tech platforms, Chair Lina Khan said Monday.
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