Biden Issues Executive Order on AI and Places Raimondo in Charge

Biden Issues Executive Order on AI and Places Raimondo in Charge

President Joe Biden on Monday signed an executive order (EO) to build U.S. capacity to evaluate and mitigate the risks of artificial intelligence (AI) systems to ensure safety, security, and trust, while promoting an innovative, competitive AI ecosystem that supports workers and protects consumers.

And, the person in charge of the new initiative is U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

According to the White House, “the U.S. Department of Commerce will play a key role in implementing the EO, combining sophisticated standards and evaluation capabilities with a robust combination of reporting requirements and voluntary measures. Specifically, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will be responsible for carrying out a significant portion of the EO’s objectives.”

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“The Commerce Department plays a pivotal role in the U.S. government’s approach of seizing the potential that comes with the development of advanced AI, while mitigating dangerous capabilities or risks to safety. Today’s executive order reaffirms that leadership as our Department prepares to undertake significant responsibilities to carry out the President’s vision to build a safer, more secure world,” said Raimondo.

“Building on the voluntary commitments secured from leading American companies earlier this year, the President is taking a critical step forward to facilitate and incentivize safe and responsible innovation in AI,” Raimondo added.

The Commerce Department said, “Experts at NIST will lead technical work on AI safety for the U.S. government. Building on existing work, they will develop industry standards for the safe and responsible development of frontier AI models, create test environments to evaluate these systems, and develop standards on privacy and on authenticating when content is AI-generated.

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“Expanding on our wide-ranging efforts in AI, NIST will work with private and public stakeholders to carry out its responsibilities under the executive order," Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Laurie Locascio said. "We are committed to developing meaningful evaluation guidelines, testing environments, and information resources to help organizations develop, deploy, and use AI technologies that are safe and secure, and that enhance AI trustworthiness.”

BIS will invoke the Defense Production Act to institute measures to enhance safety as next-generation frontier AI models are developed, including measures requiring developers to report the steps they are taking to test their models and protect them from theft. These measures build on the White House voluntary commitments on safety, security, and trust – and will promote the safe development and use of AI.

“AI technology is a powerful tool that can be both a force for good and potentially dangerous if developed and used unsafely or in the hands of malign actors,” said Under Secretary for Industry and Security Alan Estevez. “The Bureau of Industry and Security stands ready to develop the regulations and procedures mandated by today’s executive order that will enhance safety and protect our national security and foreign policy interests without hindering the ability for technological developments and trade to flourish.”