EqualAI Celebrates Members' Commitment to Responsible Artificial Intelligence

Members include major corporations across industry sectors committed to development of responsible AI, including AWS, M&T Bank, PepsiCo, SAS Institute, Starbucks, and Verizon

Washington D.C., December 12, 2023 — Today, EqualAI celebrates its members’ public commitment to the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI). As articulated in the EqualAI membership statement:

We commit to being a champion for responsible artificial intelligence (AI) governance and leading on the development and/or deployment of trustworthy AI. This commitment includes our reliance on best practices, such as the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, in testing and evaluating our AI systems. We prioritize working with partners who share our values and will continue to create and use innovative ways to test and use AI responsibly. We make this commitment to establish trust with our employees, consumers, and the general public, and to align our values with our AI development and use. We are proud of our EqualAI members– AWS, M&T Bank, PepsiCo, SAS Institute, Starbucks, and Verizon– who have been committed to this work.

“EqualAI is proud to partner with leading companies across a variety of industries who are committed to our mission to reduce harms and promote best practices in their AI development and use,” said Miriam Vogel, President and CEO of EqualAI. “EqualAI and our partners are establishing guidelines, standards and best practices in the responsible use of AI. We look forward to continuing our work together to align and operationalize responsible AI governance standards at this pivotal time.”

EqualAI’s flagship initiatives include a white paper on responsible AI governance best practices for industry, the Badge Program for senior level executives, our podcast In AI We Trust? featuring cross-sector AI thought leaders, and the Responsible AI Policy Workshop Series for Capitol Hill staffers. Through these efforts, the EqualAI network collaborates to make AI work efficiently, effectively, and inclusively for all of our communities.

The members released the following statements on the announcement:

Amazon Web Services: “We are committed to continued collaboration with policymakers, industry, researchers and the AI community to advance the responsible use of AI, as demonstrated by our membership in EqualAI. We support efforts to foster the safe, responsible, and effective development of AI technology and remain dedicated to driving innovation on behalf of our customers while also establishing and implementing the necessary safeguards to protect consumers.”

— Dr. Swami Sivasubramanian, Vice President of Database, Analytics, and Machine Learning

M&T Bank: “Exploring AI’s world of possibilities requires standards to ensure safe and responsible development. We affirm our commitment to trustworthy AI to our employees, consumers, and the general public through our EqualAI membership and collaborations.”

— Andrew Foster, Chief Data Officer

PepsiCo: “At PepsiCo, we’re already witnessing the incredible ways that artificial intelligence is augmenting and adding to the experiences of our employees, customers, and consumers. At the heart of that transformation has been earning people’s trust through our commitment to responsibly develop and deploy these technologies. We’re excited to partner with EqualAI to establish and scale best practices that will promote AI’s benefits in a manner that is safe and fair for everyone.”

— Athina Kanioura, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer

Verizon: “We are proud to be one of EqualAI’s first members and contribute towards its efforts to align leading companies on best practices and standards in Responsible AI.”

— Meghna Sinha, Vice President, AI Center

SAS Institute: “As a developer and user of AI, we have a duty to our customers and employees to innovate responsibly. But it’s not enough for SAS to get it right. To support the widespread and confident use of AI, we all must act in ways that mitigate potential harm and propel innovation. We are excited about our membership and work with EqualAI to develop standards and practices to make that a reality.”

— Reggie Townsend, Vice President, Data Ethics

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