Staff Reports
The Daily Caller News Foundation recently discovered through White House visitor logs that Microsoft President Brad Smith has been making himself quite at home in Joe Biden’s White House. This frequent visitor has been dropping by to influence the administration’s policies on artificial intelligence. And surprise, surprise, Microsoft and its partner OpenAI have been generously greasing the wheels with hefty donations to boost Biden’s campaign. Well, isn’t that just the cherry on top of this not-so-surprising sundae?
Jake Denton, a research associate at the Heritage Foundation’s Tech Policy Center, didn’t hold back, calling out Microsoft for taking advantage of the administration’s lack of direction to push its own agenda. It’s the classic tale of a big corporation cozying up to the power players in Washington for its own gain while the rest of us are left scratching our heads wondering if anyone in charge actually knows what’s going on.
Microsoft President visited White House dozens of times amid effort to influence Biden on AI policy https://t.co/lZAbAMIANr
— Bo Snerdley (@BoSnerdley) February 26, 2024
With Smith clocking in a whopping 30 visits to the White House, it’s clear there’s a party going on behind closed doors where decisions are being made that could impact all of us. And let’s not forget about Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who popped in six times just for good measure. It seems like Microsoft is getting more face time with the Biden administration than Google did during Obama’s tenure. But hey, who needs a level playing field when you’ve got friends in high places, right?
As if all these visits weren’t eyebrow-raising enough, Smith had multiple meetings with some top White House officials, including the likes of Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Arati Prabhakar and National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard. It’s like a high-stakes game of chess being played out in the corridors of power, with Smith and his cronies strategically positioning themselves to call the shots on AI policy.
And just when you thought the plot couldn’t thicken any further, Smith and his cohorts managed to secure some “voluntary commitments” from the White House to “manage the risks” of AI. It’s a bold move that has all the hallmarks of Big Tech taking advantage of a leadership vacuum to set the agenda in their favor. Who needs real governance when you’ve got tech titans pulling the strings?
The fact that senior executives from Microsoft and OpenAI have been throwing around big bucks to support Biden’s campaign only adds more fuel to the fire. It’s like a high-stakes poker game where the chips are our data and privacy, and the players are more interested in stacking the deck in their favor than playing by the rules. It’s a tale as old as time – money talks, and in this case, it’s whispering sweet nothings into the ears of those in power.
