20 tech firms pledge to curb deepfakes during global elections this year

NEW DELHI, FEB 17 (IANS) — Twenty leading tech companies like Microsoft, Meta, Google, X, Amazon and OpenAI have pledged to help prevent deceptive AI content, or deepfakes, from interfering with global elections this year, including in India.

More than four billion people in over 40 countries will vote this year.

At the Munich Security Conference (MSC), the companies signed a tech accord to combat deceptive use of AI in 2024 elections.

The “Tech Accord to Combat Deceptive Use of AI in 2024 Elections” is a set of commitments to deploy technology countering harmful AI-generated content meant to deceive voters, they said in a statement.

Digital content addressed by the accord consists of AI-generated audio, video, and images that deceptively fake or alter the appearance, voice, or actions of political candidates, election officials, and other key stakeholders in a democratic election, or that provide false information to voters about when, where, and how they can vote.

The accord signatories are Adobe, Amazon, Anthropic, Arm, ElevenLabs, Google, IBM, Inflection AI, LinkedIn, McAfee, Meta, Microsoft, Nota, OpenAI, Snap Inc., Stability AI, TikTok, Trend Micro, Truepic, and X.

 “Google has been supporting election integrity for years and the accord reflects an industry-side commitment against AI-generated election misinformation that erodes trust,” said Kent Walker, President, Global Affairs at Google.

Participating companies agreed to commitments like developing and implementing technology to mitigate risks related to deceptive AI Election content, including open-source tools where appropriate and assessing models in scope of this accord to understand the risks they may present regarding ‘Deceptive AI Election Content’.

 “Elections are the beating heart of democracies. The Tech Accord to Combat Deceptive Use of AI in 2024 elections is a crucial step in advancing election integrity, increasing societal resilience, and creating trustworthy tech practices,” said Ambassador Dr Christoph Heusgen, Chairman of Munich Security Conference.

As society embraces the benefits of AI, “we have a responsibility to help ensure these tools don’t become weaponised in elections,” said Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft.

Linda Yaccarino, CEO of X, said that in democratic processes around the world, every citizen and company has a responsibility to safeguard free and fair elections.

“We must understand the risks AI content could have on the process,” she added.