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Artificial intelligence
TechPolicy

Biden to sign executive order requiring companies building powerful AI models to report training, testing processes

  • The White House is set to release the order on Monday, aimed at promoting the safe and responsible deployment of AI with a government-wide strategy
  • The draft directive leverages the government’s position as a top customer for tech companies such as Microsoft and Amazon.com to drive changes

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US President Joe Biden is set to sign an executive order governing the use of AI by federal agencies. Photo: AFP/Getty Images/TNS
Bloomberg
US President Joe Biden will sign a wide-ranging, comprehensive executive order (EO) that governs federal agencies’ use of artificial intelligence (AI), according to a draft copy obtained by Bloomberg Government, marking his most significant step to date to address the emerging technology’s risks.
The 111-page draft copy, dated October 23, leverages the government’s position as a top customer for tech companies such as Microsoft and Amazon.com to drive changes in their AI products, by requiring developers of powerful AI systems to report their training and testing processes to the federal government.
The order, expected to be released Monday, comes as a mix of fear and excitement over AI’s rapid advancement has catapulted the technology into the spotlight. With the explosion of generative AI – large language models that can produce text, visuals, and audio almost instantly – Americans have tools at their fingertips to write speeches, plan meals, and speed up research, among other applications.

Tech industry executives, the national security community, advocacy groups, and others across the public and private sectors have urgently called for government action to mitigate AI’s risks, concerning privacy, misinformation, discrimination and job displacement. Federal leaders have shown a major appetite to set rules that protect Americans against the tech’s worst dangers, but a sweeping response has yet to emerge.

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Biden’s directive aims to promote the safe and responsible deployment of AI with a government-wide strategy. Congressional lawmakers, in the meantime, are still working to craft rules that would establish guardrails while promoting the tech’s potential to drive innovation.

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