27 Artificial Intelligence Experts First To Serve On Commerce Advisory Board

The Commerce Department building in Washington, D.C.

The Commerce Department building in Washington, D.C. Liu Jie/Xinhua via Getty Images

After being established in 2021, the National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee elected its first members to advise the federal government on AI policy. 

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced a fresh appointment of 27 experts to the National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee, a group formed to advise the president and federal agencies on artificial intelligence policy.

The NAIAC was established in late 2021 by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo pursuant to the National AI Initiative Act of 2020, making these experts the first to serve on the panel.

“Artificial intelligence presents a new frontier for enhancing our economic and national security, as well as our way of life. Moreover, responsible AI development is instrumental to our strategic competition with China,” Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves said in a press release. “At the same time, we must remain steadfast in mitigating the risks associated with this emerging technology, and others, while ensuring that all Americans can benefit.”

Committee members were nominated by the public and work in AI disciplines within academia, private sector firms, nonprofits and other organizations.

Inaugural members include: 

  • Miriam Vogel (Chair), EqualAI, Inc.
  • James Manyika (Vice Chair), Google
  • Zoë Baird, Markle Foundation
  • Yll Bajraktari, Special Competitive Studies Project
  • Amanda Ballantyne, Technology Institute at AFL-CIO
  • Sayan Chakraborty, Workday, Inc.
  • Jack Clark, Anthropic
  • David Danks, University of California, San Diego
  • Victoria Espinel, BSA: The Software Alliance
  • Paula Goldman, Salesforce
  • Susan Gonzales, AIandYou
  • Janet Haven, Data & Society Research Institute
  • Daniel E. Ho, Stanford University
  • Ayanna Howard, The Ohio State University
  • Jon Kleinberg, Cornell University
  • Ramayya Krishnan, Carnegie Mellon University
  • Ashley Llorens, Microsoft
  • Haniyeh Mahmoudian, DataRobot, Inc.
  • Christina Montgomery, IBM Corporation
  • Liz O’Sullivan, Parity
  • Frederick L. Oswald, Rice University
  • Frank Pasquale, Brooklyn Law School
  • Trooper Sanders, Benefits Data Trust
  • Navrina Singh, Credo AI
  • Swami Sivasubramanian, Amazon Web Services
  • Keith Strier, NVIDIA, Inc.
  • Reggie Townsend, SAS Institute

“The diverse leaders of our inaugural National Artificial Intelligence Advisory Committee represent the best and brightest of their respective fields and will be instrumental in helping the Department strike this balance,” Graves continued. “Their anticipated recommendations to the President and the National AI Initiative Office will serve as building blocks for U.S. AI policy for decades to come, and I am immensely grateful for their voluntary service.”

In addition to advising federal leadership on policy decisions related to AI, a subcommittee will also be established to focus on the use of AI within law enforcement processes, to provide oversight against civil liberty abuses. 

“AI is already transforming the world as we know it, including science, medicine, transportation, communications and access to goods and services,” said the head of the Office of Science and Technology and Deputy Assistant to the President Alondra Nelson. “The expertise of the NAIAC will be critical in helping to ensure the United States leads the world in the ethical development and adoption of AI, provides inclusive employment and education opportunities for the American public and protects civil rights and civil liberties in our digital age.”