China’s rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) pose a major threat to US technological and economic dominance. To counter this, President Biden has unveiled a sweeping new executive order to regulate AI development and ensure American leadership.
The order mandates safety assessments and testing for large AI systems before deployment. It also directs the government to develop standards for responsible AI design, including red team testing, algorithmic bias checks, and data usage protections. Workforce training and public sector recruitment of AI talent are prioritized as well.
The White House has divided the executive order’s crucial elements into eight distinct sections:
- Creating new safety and security standards for AI, including by requiring some AI companies to share safety test results with the federal government, directing the Commerce Department to create guidance for AI watermarking, and creating a cybersecurity program that can make AI tools that help identify flaws in critical software.
- Protecting consumer privacy, including by creating guidelines that agencies can use to evaluate privacy techniques used in AI.
- Advancing equity and civil rights by providing guidance to landlords and federal contractors to help avoid AI algorithms furthering discrimination and creating best practices on the appropriate role of AI in the justice system, including when it’s used in sentencing, risk assessments and crime forecasting.
- Protecting consumers overall by directing the Department of Health and Human Services to create a program to evaluate potentially harmful AI-related healthcare practices and creating resources on how educators can responsibly use AI tools.
- Supporting workers by producing a report on the potential labor market implications of AI and studying the ways the federal government could support workers impacted by a disruption to the labor market.
- Promoting innovation and competition by expanding grants for AI research in areas like climate change and modernizing the criteria for highly skilled immigrant workers with key expertise to stay in the U.S.
- Working with international partners to implement AI standards around the world.
- Developing guidance for federal agencies’ use and procurement of AI and speed up the government’s hiring of workers skilled in the field.
The order represents “the strongest set of actions any government in the world has ever taken on AI safety, security, and trust,” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Reed said in a statement. “The President, several months ago, directed his team to pull every lever, and that’s what this order does: bringing the power of the federal government to bear in a wide range of areas to manage AI’s risk and harness its benefits,” Reed continued.
This assertive action comes as Congress struggles to keep pace with AI innovation. Voluntary industry efforts are no longer sufficient to mitigate dangers from generative models like ChatGPT. With national security at stake, binding governance is now required.
The executive order represents the first comprehensive federal move to control this powerful technology. It builds on tech company cooperation secured by the White House last year. With China aggressively pursuing AI superiority, Biden aims to maintain America’s edge by balancing innovation with regulation.
The news comes as the UK government is set to host a two-day summit this week which is to focus on AI. The event will bring together international political leaders, prominent figures from the tech industry, academics, and additional participants.
