Classified estimates show the NSA is paying billions to test AI models
Classified estimates show the NSA is paying billions to test AI models
机密评估显示，美国国家安全局（NSA）正斥资数十亿美元测试人工智能模型
The National Security Agency told lawmakers that it is spending billions of dollars in taxpayer funds this year evaluating and testing advanced artificial intelligence models, according to two sources familiar with classified intelligence estimates. 据两位熟悉机密情报评估的消息人士透露，美国国家安全局（NSA）已告知国会议员，今年该机构正动用数十亿美元的纳税人资金，用于评估和测试先进的人工智能模型。
The price tag — which is significantly greater than previously known — has led lawmakers to believe that a more comprehensive AI regulatory system could cost the government tens of billions of dollars per year, the sources said. 消息人士称，这一开支远超此前预期，这让国会议员们意识到，建立一套更全面的AI监管体系每年可能需要政府投入数百亿美元。
President Donald Trump has mostly resisted calls for greater federal oversight of AI, rejecting regulatory proposals from members of Congress and the frontier labs aimed at imposing new safeguards on the models. But after a string of high-profile hacking and security incidents, the NSA’s Artificial Intelligence Security Center began testing frontier models to identify potential national security vulnerabilities. 唐纳德·特朗普总统此前大多抵制加强联邦AI监管的呼声，拒绝了国会议员和前沿实验室旨在为模型施加新保障措施的监管提案。但在发生一系列备受瞩目的黑客攻击和安全事件后，NSA的人工智能安全中心开始对前沿模型进行测试，以识别潜在的国家安全漏洞。
The high cost of those efforts is bringing new urgency to the debate about the government’s role in reviewing AI models designed by some of the most powerful and resourceful companies in the world. It also may intensify calls to have the frontier labs to shoulder the financial burden of reviewing the models, especially with spending set to only balloon as the technology grows more advanced. 这些高昂的成本为有关政府在审查由全球最具实力和资源的公司所设计的AI模型时应扮演何种角色的辩论增添了紧迫感。这也可能加剧要求前沿实验室承担模型审查财务负担的呼声，尤其是随着技术日益先进，相关支出预计只会进一步激增。
Estimates of prior proposals to establish new federal AI regulatory oversight suggested a far lower price tag. For instance, the Congressional Budget Office estimated the AI Security and Innovation Act, a bipartisan House proposal to establish a center on AI risks and “facilitate the mitigation of those risks,” would cost roughly $20 million per year. 此前关于建立新的联邦AI监管机制的提案估算成本要低得多。例如，国会预算办公室（CBO）曾估计，旨在建立AI风险中心并“促进降低这些风险”的众议院两党提案《AI安全与创新法案》，每年仅需约2000万美元。
A separate bill in the House to establish a new reporting and tracking system for AI calls for $36 million in total over the next five years, the CBO reported. 据CBO报告，众议院另一项旨在建立AI报告与追踪系统的法案，要求在未来五年内总共投入3600万美元。
Some tech leaders, like billionaire Elon Musk, have suggested that the frontier labs should review each other’s models prior to their release without government oversight. On Thursday, The Information reported that Google, OpenAI and Anthropic are jointly working on a plan to create their own AI safety-focused “standards body.” But some AI safety experts have rejected this model as effectively allowing the firms to police themselves. 一些科技领袖（如亿万富翁埃隆·马斯克）建议，前沿实验室应在模型发布前互相审查，无需政府介入。周四，《The Information》报道称，谷歌、OpenAI和Anthropic正联合制定计划，建立一个专注于AI安全的“标准机构”。但一些AI安全专家拒绝了这种模式，认为这实际上等同于让企业自我监管。
One alternative is for the government to levy a tax on AI companies to run these safety operations — both to ensure independence and to ensure the financial burden of regulating AI does not fall primarily on the taxpayers. Anthropic and OpenAI have suggested that they want greater federal oversight and may be open to paying for it as well. 另一种方案是政府向AI公司征税以运营这些安全业务，既能确保独立性，也能确保监管AI的财务负担不会主要由纳税人承担。Anthropic和OpenAI已表示希望加强联邦监管，并可能愿意为此买单。
Currently, NSA’s AI testing efforts are being funded by classified portions of the federal national security budget, the two sources familiar said. The exact dollar amount the government has spent so far is not clear. 据上述两位知情人士透露，目前NSA的AI测试工作由联邦国家安全预算中的机密部分资助。政府迄今为止的具体支出金额尚不明确。
The Pentagon declined to comment on what the NSA is spending on AI. “For security reasons, the Department does not discuss the technical architecture or resource allocation for its AI tools,” a spokesperson for the Defense Department said. 五角大楼拒绝就NSA在AI上的支出发表评论。国防部发言人表示：“出于安全考虑，国防部不讨论其AI工具的技术架构或资源分配。”
The Defense Department’s annual budget is close to $1 trillion. Some budgetary funds already allocated to the military could be shifted into AI-related spending, reducing the potential price tag. 国防部的年度预算接近1万亿美元。部分已拨给军方的预算资金可能会被转移到AI相关支出中，从而降低潜在的账面成本。
One source said the biggest AI-related cost to the NSA thus far has been the extra computing power: the processing on chips necessary to run and test the AI models. Purchasing computing power has become incredibly expensive worldwide amid a surge in demand accompanied by insufficient production of chips. For instance, Anthropic has lined up computing deals that could cost as much as $517 billion, according to The Information. 一位消息人士称，迄今为止NSA在AI方面最大的成本是额外的计算能力：即运行和测试AI模型所需的芯片处理能力。在全球需求激增且芯片产能不足的情况下，购买计算能力变得极其昂贵。据《The Information》报道，Anthropic已达成的计算交易成本可能高达5170亿美元。
Another big expense is in hiring personnel. Some top AI engineers have been offered salaries in the hundreds of millions of dollars, far outpacing what the government could match. NSA is widely regarded as having the deepest roster of technical experts within the government and still may not be able to compete with the giant pay packages thrown around by the frontier labs. 另一项大额支出是招聘人员。一些顶级AI工程师获得了数亿美元的薪酬报价，远超政府所能提供的水平。NSA被公认为拥有政府内部最强大的技术专家团队，但即便如此，可能仍无法与前沿实验室开出的巨额薪酬相抗衡。
“Having in-house AI evaluation capability I think is extremely important and necessary. But it is genuinely expensive,” said Nathan Calvin, general counsel at Encode, an AI advocacy organization. “You’re competing in bidding with some of the most price-insensitive customers.” AI倡导组织Encode的总法律顾问内森·卡尔文（Nathan Calvin）表示：“我认为拥有内部AI评估能力极其重要且必要，但确实非常昂贵。你是在与一些对价格最不敏感的客户竞争。”
Some experts have pushed for lawmakers to swiftly move to strengthen third-party audits of the models. Nat Purser, director of U.S. Policy at the AI Verification and Evaluation Research Institute, said that while “people often underestimate how much computing power it can take to rigorously test advanced AI systems,” the government should make the investments necessary. Purser also said the AI companies could foot the bill if taxpayers are paying large sums to evaluate the models. 一些专家敦促国会议员迅速采取行动，加强对模型的第三方审计。AI验证与评估研究所美国政策主任纳特·珀瑟（Nat Purser）表示，虽然“人们往往低估了严格测试先进AI系统所需的计算能力”，但政府仍应进行必要的投资。珀瑟还表示，如果纳税人正在支付巨额费用来评估这些模型，那么AI公司也应该承担相应的费用。
“If we want the government to be equipped to assess these systems, we need to fund the computing resources and expertise that requires,” Purser said. “I think of these tests as public goods, but there are reasonable questions about if taxpayers should foot the bill. An assessment on frontier developers could be required to help fund these independent audits, including the necessary computing resources.” “如果我们希望政府有能力评估这些系统，我们就需要为所需的计算资源和专业知识提供资金，”珀瑟说。“我认为这些测试属于公共产品，但关于纳税人是否应该买单，存在合理的质疑。可以要求对前沿开发者进行评估，以帮助资助这些独立审计，包括必要的计算资源。”