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Vice President Kamala Harris is now the front-runner to be the Democratic nominee for president — and she’s no stranger to the tech industry.
Harris, who was endorsed by President Joe Biden after he announced he was dropping out of the 2024 election, has received an endorsement from LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, and previously counted tech investors, such as early Google investor and billionaire John Doerr and venture capitalist Ron Conway, as donors when she made her first run for California attorney general. She later received donations from former Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg and Salesforce chief executive Marc Benioff when she ran for re-election.
As California attorney general and later as a U.S. senator, Harris pushed for more regulation in the tech sector and took on social media platforms for misinformation and online sex harassment. As vice president, Harris was tasked by the Biden administration to focus on rules and regulations around artificial intelligence.
Last May, Harris met with chief executives of tech companies at the forefront of artificial intelligence development, including OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella, to discuss the risks associated with the technology. The meeting focused on the need for more transparency from tech companies on AI advancements, the ability to evaluate and validate that AI is safe, secure, and effective, and the importance of AI systems being “secure from malicious actors and attacks,” according to the White House. The discussion built upon White House efforts, including the AI Bill of Rights, which Harris later said is meant “to promote safe, secure, and trustworthy AI,” and the administration’s AI Risk Management Framework.
In November, Harris said she and Biden “reject the false choice that suggests we can either protect the public or advance innovation,” during remarks at the Global Summit on AI Safety in London. She also announced the Biden administration’s establishment of a United States AI Safety Institute to “create rigorous standards to test the safety of AI models for public use.”
In the spring, Harris announced that the White House Office of Management and Budget was issuing its first government-wide policy around AI risks and benefits. Under the policy, government agencies using AI will have to verify that the tools are not a danger to “the rights and safety” of the public, Harris told reporters.
If Harris is chosen as the democratic presidential nominee and eventually wins the election, she will likely continue with the Biden administration’s executive order on AI that addresses safety and security around developing and using the technology.
“This is a moment of profound opportunity. The benefits of AI are immense,” Harris said at the AI Safety Summit in November. “It could give us the power to fight the climate crisis, make medical and scientific breakthroughs, explore our universe, and improve everyday life for people around the world. So, let us seize this moment. Let us recognize this moment we are in.”