AI national security threat: Why US advocacy group wants tech firms' foreign-national employees under scrutiny - Decoded

A technology advocacy group is raising concerns over the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), warning that inadequate federal oversight of the industry and foreign nationals working at AI companies could expose sensitive information and pose a national security threat to the United States.

Amy Kremer, chair of Humans First, an organisation advocating democratic oversight, safety protocols and local control over artificial intelligence, said the technology sector had significantly fewer federal safeguards than other industries.

“This is a national security threat. These companies hold and have access to a lot of sensitive information,” Kremer told Fox News Digital.

She argued that potential threats went beyond the theft of proprietary AI models, warning that information about companies' research, business partners and competitors could also be exploited.

“You don't have to steal an entire AI model to get information. You can just find out what they're working on, who their partners are, and who their adversaries are. That is not the kind of thing that we need getting out,” she said.

“If America wants to lead the world on AI, and we want America to have this AI advantage, then we have to put national security at the top,” Kremer added.

OpenAI employee arrest and Google AI trade secrets case raise concerns

The concerns come amid several incidents involving alleged security breaches and the theft of sensitive technology-related information.

In early October, an engineer at OpenAI was arrested after allegedly planting a recording device inside a conference room at the company's San Francisco office.

According to the US Justice Department, Abdulrahman Alfozan, a 35-year-old Saudi Arabian citizen and lawful permanent resident of the US, allegedly researched how to construct a recording device and where to place it inside the company.

OpenAI terminated Alfozan following his arrest.