Three months ago, President Biden issued a historic executive order to ensure that the United States delivers on this promise and takes the lead in managing the risks of artificial intelligence (AI). The order includes strengthening AI safety and security, advancing Americans’ privacy, equity and civil rights, standing up for consumers and workers, promoting innovation and competition, advancing American leadership around the world, and more. Massive action was directed to do.
Today, Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Reid will convene a meeting of the White House AI Council, which will include top officials from a wide range of federal departments and agencies. The agencies have reported that they have completed all the 90-day actions tasked by the EO and have carried out other important directives that the order mandated over a longer period of time.
Taken together, these activities mark substantial progress in achieving the EO’s mandate to protect Americans from the potential risks of AI systems while driving innovation in AI and beyond. Visit ai.gov to learn more.
Managing safety and security risks
The executive order directed a wide range of actions within 90 days to address the biggest AI threats to safety and security. These include setting key disclosure requirements for developers of the most powerful systems, assessing AI threats to critical infrastructure, and hindering efforts by foreign actors to develop AI for harmful purposes. . To mitigate these and other risks, agencies have:
- used Defense Production Act authorities to force developers of the most powerful AI systems to report critical information, particularly the results of AI safety tests, to the Commerce Department. These companies must now share this information on the most powerful AI systems, and they must also report the large computing clusters capable of training these systems.
- has proposed a draft rule that would force US cloud companies that provide computing power for foreign AI training to report that they are doing so. The Commerce Department’s proposal, if finalized as proposed, would require cloud providers to alert the government when foreign clients train the most powerful models, which could be used for malicious activities. are
- Risk assessments covering the use of AI in each key infrastructure sector. Nine agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Department of Transportation, the Department of the Treasury, and the Department of Health and Human Services, have submitted their threat assessments to the Department of Homeland Security. These assessments, which will be the basis for continued federal action, ensure that the United States is at the forefront of safely integrating AI into critical aspects of society, such as the electric grid.
Innovating AI for good
To realize the tremendous promise of AI and deepen U.S. leadership in AI innovation, President Biden’s executive order directs new efforts to increase investment in AI innovation and attract and train workers with AI skills. . In the past 90 days, agencies have:
- A pilot of National AI Research Resource– Stimulating broad-based innovation, competition, and more equitable access to AI research. The pilot, managed by the US National Science Foundation (NSF), aims to provide researchers and students with computing power, data, software, access to open and proprietary AI models, and other AI training resources to a national infrastructure. is the first step. These resources come from 11 federal agency partners and more than 25 private sector, nonprofit, and philanthropic partners.
- Launched an AI talent surge to accelerate the hiring of AI professionals in the federal government, including through a large-scale hiring process for data scientists. The AI and Tech Talent Task Force, created by President Biden’s EO, has spearheaded this hiring effort and is coordinating other key initiatives to facilitate the hiring of AI talent. The Office of Personnel Management has approved flexible hiring authorities for federal agencies to hire AI talent, including direct hire authorities and exempt service authorities. Government-wide tech talent programs, including the Presidential Innovation Fellows, US Digital Corps, and US Digital Service, have increased the hiring of AI talent in high-priority AI projects in 2024. More information about the AI Talent Surge is available at ai.gov/apply.
- Launched the EducateAI initiative to help fund educators creating high-quality, comprehensive AI educational opportunities at the K-12 through undergraduate levels. The launch of the initiative helps meet the executive order’s charge for NSF to prioritize the development of an AI-related workforce, which is necessary to advance future AI innovations and ensure that all Americans can take advantage of the opportunities that AI creates.
- Announced funding for new Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines), including with a focus on advancing AI. For example, with an initial investment of $15 million over two years and up to $160 million over the next decade, the Piedmont Triad Regenerative Medicine Engine will tap the world’s largest regenerative medicine cluster to develop clinical therapies leveraging AI. Can be created and scaled. The announcement supports NSF’s executive order directive to fund and launch AI-focused NSF engines within 150 days.
- Established an AI Task Force at the Department of Health and Human Services to provide regulatory clarity and develop policies to stimulate AI innovation in healthcare. The task force, for example, is evaluating AI-powered tools and frameworks for using AI to advance drug development, strengthen public health, and improve healthcare delivery. Will develop methods. Already, the task force has coordinated work to publish guidelines for addressing racial biases in health care algorithms.
The table below summarizes many of the activities completed by federal agencies in response to the Executive Order.
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