A leading U.S. official on AI policy called out Elon Musk for a curious flaw in Tesla cars: the vehicle’s on-board screen insists that every nearby pedestrian is a man.
Kathi Vidal, the under secretary of Commerce for intellectual property and director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, flagged the issue in an on-stage discussion at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women conference on Wednesday.
“My relationship with Elon is more of a personal nature,” Vidal said when asked about the billionaire CEO of Tesla. Vidal drives a Tesla Model S Plaid, which she notes she bought because she wanted an electric car.
“When I drive, and I see a voluptuous woman walk across the street, Elon depicts her as a tall white man,” Vidal said at the event in Laguna Niguel, Calif. “Really, the AI recognizes everybody as tall white men,” she added. Vidal has since ordered a Tesla Roadster, but she gave Musk a personal warning: “Elon, if you’re listening, I’m going to withdraw my money if you don’t change that,” she said.
Vidal, who worked as an engineer at Lockheed Martin and General Electric before going into law, was nominated by President Biden for her current role in 2021. She focuses on developing AI policy that creates jobs, solves global problems, promotes U.S. competitiveness, and protects national security. And, she noted on Wednesday, she really wants anyone with thoughts about how to regulate AI innovation to send her an email.
Vidal’s work on AI started in the early ‘90s, when she was on a team that used internal data to develop a program that would detect faults on aircrafts. That was before everyone was connected to the internet and had access to huge datasets—and had to worry about issues like bias and privacy.
“There was no big data back then,” Vidal said.
With fewer than 20 days until the presidential election, Vidal underscored the Biden and Harris administration’s commitment to creating jobs and encouraging innovation. She specifically cited initiatives to promote quantum computing tech hubs in Colorado and Chicago. Under the Department of Commerce, the tech hubs aim to boost regional capacities to manufacture, commercialize, and deploy emerging technologies.
“We are creating Silicon Valleys everywhere,” she said.
