AI technologists, researchers, congressional staff, industry and advocates came together for cocktails and converation about The path forward for open source AI. Tammy Haddad, founder of the Washington AI Network, and Polina Zvyagina, the Director of AI Policy and Governance at Meta, led the event at the House at 1229 last Monday, July 8.
As guests arrived, Dr. Annie Hartley, AI technologist and Assistant Professor of Biomedical Informatics and Data Science at Yale University, showcased “Meditron,” a Large Language Model (LLM) suite designed on Llama for low-resource medical settings including on the African continent. In another room, guests were invited to try the Meta RayBan Smart Glasses and learn how to use all its features including translation into five languages.
Zvyagina guided the audience through the history of AI innovation and the opportunities with open-source right now. She was then joined by a panel of AI leaders including technology veteran Daniela Combe, Vice President of Emerging Technology Advocacy at IBM, Austin Carson, CEO and founder of SeedAI, and Yale’s Dr. Annie Hartley. Audience questions covered safety, transparency, opportunities, and global challenges.
Notably in attendance were Oceane Thieriot, the Counselor of Cybersecurity at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development for the French Ambassador to the United States; U.S. Representative Bill Foster; AI Expert and Associate Director for Emerging Technologies at NIST, Elham Tabassi; Actress Lynda Carter; D.C. influencer Tony P; the British Embassy’s Deputy Chief of Mission to the U.S., James Roscoe, and senior political director, Senay Bulbul; Meta’s David Ginsberg and Donnie Fowler; Washington Post tech policy reporter Cat Zakrzewski; Elizabeth Falcone, Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator Mark Warner; Luke Nickless of the House Budget Committee; Deadline’s Ted Johnson; Washington Post Live executive producer Kathy O’Hearn; Elizabeth Schultze of ABC News; Bloomberg Government tech reporter Oma Seddiq; Chief Presenter at BBC News, Sumi Somaskanda; James Davis, House Democratic Caucus policy advisor for Rep. Ted Lieu; and Savannah Bolender, senior policy advisor for Rep. Pat Fallon.