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By Theo Burman
Live News Reporter
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OpenAI is searching for new staff to engage with Congress as the artificial intelligence industry comes under increasing pressure from lawmakers and federal regulators.
Sam Altman's company, which is headquartered in San Francisco and has offices in London and Tokyo, is currently hiring for a U.S. Congressional Deputy Lead, to be based in Washington, D.C. The listing on OpenAI's website describes the goal of the job is to "develop strategies and advance OpenAI's engagement with the U.S. Congress, including developing and managing relationships with House and Senate lawmakers and staff."
The posting also said that OpenAI was looking for someone "with Capitol Hill experience," along with experience managing the private sector and relationships with senior politicians.
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Newsweek was unable to determine whether the role was a new position or replacing a departing employee. OpenAI didn't respond to requests for comment.
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Altman has attended Congress on several occasions to speak about AI and his role in developing the technology. Altman, a consistent donor to Democratic politicians, has frequently said that regulation is necessary for the ethical development of AIs such as ChatGPT.
Altman co-founded an AI Ethics Council along with Operation HOPE CEO John Hope Bryant, with the aim of creating greater clarity over the kind of regulation and restrictions artificial intelligence development should be subjected to.
"There are bad people in the world who will use artificial intelligence to do bad things," Bryant previously told Newsweek in an interview*.* "We need to get to scale before they do."
Despite this, OpenAI has come under increasing scrutiny from federal authorities due to its growing role in the AI industry and its relationship with tech giant Microsoft, which remains one of Altman's biggest backers.
Microsoft is the largest investor in OpenAI, contributing $13 billion to the company over the past five years. In return, Microsoft has had unique access to AI assistant tools based on ChatGPT, OpenAI's flagship product.
However, Microsoft gave up its observational seat on OpenAI's board earlier this month, which it had held since Altman was ousted then quickly reinstated as CEO.
The move came amid new scrutiny from American and European authorities over the relationship between the two companies, both of which are major players in the artificial intelligence industry.
The Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department both approved potential antitrust examinations into Microsoft and OpenAI in June, after investigations into Nvidia, another Californian tech company, were announced.
The Biden Administration has taken greater steps to regulate artificial intelligence than any president before, with several executive orders and federal agencies setting their sites on industry leaders.
In April earlier this year, an executive order clamped down on using AI to develop biological materials, after studies from the Departments of Energy and Homeland Security recommended key mitigations on the technology.
Similarly, President Biden launched the AI Safety and Security Board, as a subsidiary of the Department of Homeland Security, so that it is better equipped to deal with issues presented by AI. A report released in February this year also outlined the government's approach to preventing AI's impact on electoral processes.
Newsweek contacted OpenAI for comment via email.
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