Eighteen countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, have signed agreements urging companies to make AI safer

CTOnews.com United States, Britain and more than a dozen other countries have published the first detailed international agreement on how to protect AI from rogue behavior, urging companies to build AI systems that are "safe by design."

In a 20-page document, 18 countries agreed that companies designing and using AI need to develop and deploy it in a way that ensures customers and the public are protected from abuse.

The agreement is non-binding and contains general recommendations such as monitoring AI systems for abuse, protecting data from tampering and vetting software vendors.

Jen Easterly, director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said it was important that so many countries agreed that AI systems needed to put security first.

The agreement is the latest in a series of initiatives taken by governments around the world to shape AI development, few of which are truly effective, and AI's influence has penetrated a growing number of industries.

CTOnews.com notes that in addition to the United States and Britain, the 18 countries that signed the agreement include Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland, Australia, Chile, Israel, Nigeria () and Singapore.