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CalPERS Board Fears AI Doomsday as Fund Booms on Tech Investments
Confirmed
In Short: CalPERS board members discussed issuing a public statement on AI risks amid the pension fund's strong performance from tech investments.
Fears of a catastrophic outcome from artificial intelligence (AI) have emerged at California's largest pension fund, CalPERS, during a recent board meeting. Board President Theresa Taylor, a retired state worker and former public employee union leader, urged her colleagues to consider issuing a public statement calling for new guardrails or a moratorium on AI development.
The pension fund, with assets valued at $655 billion, is doing exceptionally well this year, largely due to the booming stock market and the stratospheric valuations of AI companies. However, the board is now grappling with the potential risks that new technology might pose.
Despite the unease, the board did not issue a statement or alter its AI investments this week. The board remains focused on the financial health of the pension fund, which is crucial for the future of its retirees and state workers.
What's confirmed
- “This is humanity,” board President Theresa Taylor said Monday during a discussion with CalPERS Chief Investment Officer Stephen Gilmore.
- Taylor, a retired state worker and former public employee union leader, urged her colleagues on the CalPERS board to consider issuing a public statement calling for new guardrails or a moratorium on AI development.
- California pension funds are doing well this year in no small part because of the still- booming stock market and stratospheric valuations of artificial intelligence companies.
- But an unsettling question emerged at this week’s board meeting for the California Public Employees’ Retirement System: What if the new technology leads to catastrophe?
- The board is obligated to prioritize the financial health of the pension fund.
- She argued a statement about AI concerns is appropriate because, “If we don’t have retirees, if we don’t have state workers because of AI, we don’t have a pension fund.” CalPERS, with assets valued at $655 billion, is among the world’s largest pension funds.
What's still developing
- The resignation of Anthropic researcher over his concerns about artificial intelligence companies “gambling with our lives” led to a discussion about the technology’s risk at California’s largest pension fund.
- Artificial intelligence could become a powerful economic engine for American communities, but a tech CEO warns that allowing a handful of companies to dominate the technology could lead to a much darker outcome.
- The 10-year Treasury note closed at a high yield of 4.8%, a level not seen in nearly three years and more than 60 basis points above estimates from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), while the 2-year Treasury yield is at a near 2-year high of 4.4%.