President Joe Biden’s recent executive order introducing the first-ever regulations overseeing the production and application of artificial intelligence (AI) leverages a longstanding national security law to supervise this burgeoning tech field. The regulations come amid increasing involvements of AI in a variety of sectors, prompting both legislative and regulatory bodies to advance their oversight of this influential technology.
The executive order invokes the nearly 73-year-old Defense Production Act to mandate tech firms – particularly those constructing sizable, multi-purpose AI models – to disclose specific information to federal authorities about their training and safety assessment procedures.
Subsequently, prominent corporations like Microsoft, OpenAI, and the Alphabet-incorporated Google will now have to disclose their activities in relation to model training, as well as the cybersecurity measures they put in place. Additionally, they must report the results of their safety evaluations for future large AI models.
However, this order has not been without critique, with the tech industry expressing skepticism over the reporting requirements for AI models. As modern AI technology continues to advance and intertwear with daily life, the balance between effective oversight and innovation remains a topic of ongoing debate. Especially given the broad use of the Defense Production Act spanning from national security to pandemic responses.
For legal professionals dealing in technology and intellectual property law specifically, this move marks a significant shift towards greater regulatory oversight in AI development. More detailed information on the executive order can be found in the full article from Bloomberg Law, available here.