Unvetted foreign workers at AI firms raise national security alarms, advocates warn
Unvetted foreign workers at AI firms raise national security alarms, advocates warn
Tech advocacy groups are sounding the alarm, warning that the rapid evolution of and a lack of federal oversight for foreign nationals working at AI firms pose a major national security risk.
Amy Kremer, chair of Humans First, a group focused on establishing democratic oversight, safety protocols, and local control over artificial intelligence, said AI technology has virtually no federal guardrails compared to other tech sectors.
"This is a national security threat. These companies hold and have access to a lot of sensitive information," Kremer told Fox News Digital. "You don't have to steal an entire AI model to get information. You can just find out what they're working on, who their partners are, and who their adversaries are. That is not the kind of thing that we need getting out."
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"If America wants to lead the world on AI, and we want America to have this AI advantage, then we have to put national security at the top," she added.
Kremer's concerns come as AI continues to expand, even as many Americans and lawmakers remain wary of the fast-moving industry.
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In early October, an engineer at OpenAI, one of the world's most prominent AI companies, was arrested after allegedly planting a recording device inside a conference room at the AI giant's San Francisco office.
Abdulrahman Alfozan, 35, a Saudi Arabian citizen, allegedly researched how to construct a recording device and where to place it inside OpenAI, eventually concealing a customized audio recorder behind a television in an executive conference room in late September, according to the Justice Department.
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Searches of his home and electronic devices uncovered similar components and photographs that appeared to show reconnaissance of other locations inside OpenAI, including another conference room used for sensitive meetings, federal prosecutors said.
Alfozan, who was a lawful permanent resident in the United States, was terminated by OpenAI following his arrest.
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In January, a former Google software engineer was convicted of stealing thousands of pages of the company's trade secrets related to AI to benefit China.
Even the AI firms themselves have expressed concerns about the technology. In September, OpenAI and Anthropic warned that their advanced systems could pose a direct threat to humanity. The CEOs of both firms stated that their AI models should be regulated and rigorously tested.
