Washington Dresses Up for AI
The Latest from Hollywood on the Potomac.
At the Waldorf Astoria in downtown DC the champagne was flowing and Washington’s elite traded their policy memos for tuxedos and gowns. But this wasn’t just another political gala. This was the inaugural AI Honors and for one night artificial intelligence —not partisan gridlock— was the hottest topic in town.
Hosted by the Washington AI Network, the black-tie affair drew over 300 guests from across the capital’s influence ecosystem: policymakers, tech executives, military brass and media fixtures. CNN’s Sarah Sidner emceed the evening, which married Capitol Hill seriousness with red-carpet energy. Think Davos meets the Kennedy Center Honors with a side of Silicon Valley swagger. Yet beneath the fashion and flash, there was a clear message: America wants to lead on AI. And it’s prepared to reorganize itself to do it.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick used the evening to make real news, announcing the birth of a new federal entity: the Center for AI Standards and Innovation, or CAISI. “We’re going to focus on making sure that America is the leader in AI,” Lutnick declared from the stage.
In his signature straight-shooting style, he explained the pivot. “We’re rethinking the AI Safety Institute because AI safety is sort of an opinion-based model. And the Commerce Department—we’re the standards department.” He went on: “We do standards. And we do, most successfully, cyber—the gold standard of cyber. So let’s embrace what we’re great at.”
The new center, he said, won’t regulate AI, but instead create a “voluntary” framework—a trusted hub companies can turn to for guidance. “This is a safe model. This is a model we understand. Has someone checked it out?” Lutnick posed to the crowd. “We are going to enhance the voluntary models of what great American innovation is all about.”
In other words: Washington may not build the algorithms, but it wants to shape the guardrails.
Read more here.
