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The Story: Yesterday, more than 40 venture capital firms signed their names to a voluntary commitment pledging to secure organizational buy-in from their portfolio companies to responsibly develop and implement artificial intelligence.

Led by nonprofit Responsible Innovation Labs, the guidelines surrounding AI include pledges to “secure organizational buy-in, forecast AI risks and benefits, and audit and test to ensure product safety.” The RIL convened with the Department of Commerce ahead of the announcement to craft the voluntary agreement.

Included in the 40+ VC firms that signed the pledge are Lux Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, Antler, Felicis Ventures, IVP, and Insight Partners.

The creation of the guidelines follows President Biden's recent executive order called “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence.” Biden’s order was primarily focused on establishing guardrails for bigger AI companies with the most powerful models. The new voluntary guidelines from VC firms look to broaden the scope to thousands of smaller AI startups.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo says the protocol is a “all-hands-on-deck approach to ensure we are leaving no stone unturned to harness the power of AI for good while protecting people from its risks.”

But, it’s important to remember that these commitments are just voluntary. Self-enforcement will depend on each VC firm and its investors.

The Experts: Shahin Farshchi, general partner at Lux Capital, Somesh Dash, general partner at IVP, and Ganesh Bell, managing director at Insight Partners give insight into what their firms have pledged.

Farshchi explains the reasons why VC firms felt obliged to work with the Department of Commerce to establish these guidelines: “Imagine you’re Henry Ford selling model-T’s one hundred years ago. You want to understand if you’re able to drive these things on public roads before you start investing in factories. And VCs expect to heavily heavily invest in [AI] technology. And having an understanding of where the government [stands] or partnering with the government on these guidelines is absolutely necessary.”

Bell further explains what the RIL and top VC firms set out to do with guidelines:

Farshchi believes the public can trust venture firms to establish effective and thoughtful AI guardrails: “This is a collaboration. It’s not just one firm or one group dictating what these guidelines are going to be. We expect to work closely with our fellow investors, with our regulators, with technologists, with executives running the [AI] company. And it’s our expectation that by building this community, that the output of the community will be regulation that not only ensures the safety of the technology, but also promotes the advancement of the technology.”

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