Obama-Era PTO Director Says US Should Push ‘Fast’ AI Innovation

The U.S. should be “really careful” about setting rules that impose onerous disclosure requirements for AI developers seeking patents, former Patent and Trademark Director David Kappos said Tuesday during a George Mason University event. The Obama-era appointee and former IBM engineer urged policymakers to allow AI to “grow as fast as possible,” given the economic advantages it could bring. Now at Cravath, Kappos said enforcers should go as “light” as possible when requiring AI disclosure in the patent-granting process. “We ought to be careful about creating rules that are going to cause innovators to say, ‘You know what? I’m just going to stay away from the patent system,'” he said.