President Biden rolls out comprehensive executive order to prioritize AI safety and security

On Monday, U.S. President Joe Biden issued an Executive Order to prioritize America’s role in harnessing the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) while addressing associated risks. The Executive Order established new standards for AI safety and security, protects Americans’ privacy, and advances equity and civil rights. It also stands up for consumers and workers and promotes innovation and competition while advancing its position. 

With the Executive Order, the President requires that developers of the most powerful AI systems share their safety test results and other critical information with the U.S. government. 

“In accordance with the Defense Production Act, the Order will require that companies developing any foundation model that poses a serious risk to national security, national economic security, or national public health and safety must notify the federal government when training the model, and must share the results of all red-team safety tests,” according to a Fact Sheet released by the U.S. administration. “These measures will ensure AI systems are safe, secure, and trustworthy before companies make them public.”

The Fact Sheet also identified that the President called upon the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to develop standards, tools, and tests to help ensure that AI systems are safe, secure, and trustworthy. The move will set the rigorous standards for extensive red-team testing to ensure safety before public release. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will apply those standards to critical infrastructure sectors and establish the AI Safety and Security Board. 

The document added that the Department of Energy and DHS will also address AI systems’ threats to critical infrastructure, as well as chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and cybersecurity risks. Together, these are the most significant actions ever taken by any government to advance the field of AI safety.

Additionally, the Fact Sheet said that it aims to protect Americans from AI-enabled fraud and deception by establishing standards and best practices for detecting AI-generated content and authenticating official content. The Department of Commerce will develop guidance for content authentication and watermarking to label AI-generated content clearly. Federal agencies will use these tools to make it easy for Americans to know that the communications they receive from their government are authentic—and set an example for the private sector and governments around the world.

The President’s move also establishes an advanced cybersecurity program to develop AI tools to find and fix vulnerabilities in critical software, building on the Biden-Harris Administration’s ongoing AI Cyber Challenge. Together, these efforts will harness AI’s potentially game-changing cyber capabilities to make software and networks more secure.

As part of the Executive Order, the President ordered the development of a National Security Memorandum that directs further actions on AI and security, to be developed by the National Security Council and White House Chief of Staff. The document will ensure that the U.S. military and intelligence community use AI safely, ethically, and effectively in their missions, and will direct actions to counter adversaries’ military use of AI.

The President’s Executive Order identifies that AI’s challenges and opportunities are global. The Biden-Harris administration will continue working with other nations to support safe, secure, and trustworthy deployment and use of AI worldwide. 

To that end, the President directs expanding bilateral, multilateral, and multi-stakeholder engagements to collaborate on AI. The State Department, in collaboration with the Commerce Department, will lead an effort to establish robust international frameworks for harnessing AI’s benefits, managing its risks, and ensuring safety. In addition, this week, Vice President Harris will speak at the UK Summit on AI Safety, hosted by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

The Executive Order is also set to accelerate the development and implementation of vital AI standards with international partners and in standards organizations, ensuring that the technology is safe, secure, trustworthy, and interoperable. It will also promote the safe, responsible, and rights-affirming development and deployment of AI abroad to solve global challenges, such as advancing sustainable development and mitigating dangers to critical infrastructure.

The document also recognizes that AI can help the government deliver better results for the American people. It can expand agencies’ capacity to regulate, govern, and disburse benefits, and it can cut costs and enhance the security of government systems. However, the use of AI can pose risks, such as discrimination and unsafe decisions. 

To ensure the responsible government deployment of AI and modernize federal AI infrastructure, the President directs guidance for agencies’ use of AI, including clear standards to protect rights and safety, improve AI procurement, and strengthen AI deployment. It also looks at helping agencies acquire specified AI products and services faster, more cheaply, and more effectively through more rapid and efficient contracting. It also addresses accelerating the rapid hiring of AI professionals as part of a government-wide AI talent surge led by the Office of Personnel Management, U.S. Digital Service, U.S. Digital Corps, and Presidential Innovation Fellowship. Agencies will provide AI training for employees at all levels in relevant fields.

“As we advance this agenda at home, the Administration will work with allies and partners abroad on a strong international framework to govern the development and use of AI,” the Fact Sheet said. “The Administration has already consulted widely on AI governance frameworks over the past several months—engaging with Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, the UAE, and the UK. The actions taken today support and complement Japan’s leadership of the G-7 Hiroshima Process, the UK Summit on AI Safety, India’s leadership as Chair of the Global Partnership on AI, and ongoing discussions at the United Nations.”

It added that the actions that “President Biden directed today are vital steps forward in the U.S.’s approach to safe, secure, and trustworthy AI. More action will be required, and the Administration will continue to work with Congress to pursue bipartisan legislation to help America lead the way in responsible innovation.”

In additional remarks, President Biden identified that “in the wrong hands, AI can make it easier to — for hackers to exploit vulnerabilities in the software that makes our — our society run.” 

He added, “That’s why I’m directing the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security, both of them, to develop game-changing cyber protections that will make our computers and our critical infrastructure more secure than it is today.  And that’s why my administration has taken decisive steps to prevent cutting-edge — these cutting-edge AI chips from being used to undermine our national security, which is possible.”

Bennie G. Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi and chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, wrote in an emailed statement that he looks “forward to the Department of Homeland Security’s work under the executive order to assess the risks AI poses to critical infrastructure, develop recommendations on safe and secure AI deployment, and conduct testing on how to better utilize AI to protect our Federal agencies from cyber intrusions.”

Thomson added that President Biden has “demonstrated a commitment to making the protection of civil rights and privacy a central aspect of his AI policy, and I will continue to work with the Administration and my colleagues in Congress to protect Americans from discriminatory or malicious uses of AI systems.”

Earlier this month, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) collaborated with 17 U.S. and international partners and released an updated ‘Secure by Design’ principles joint guide. The document included expanded principles and guidance for technology providers to increase the safety of their products used around the world, while also offering additional insights into essential principles and guidance and has been endorsed by eight more international cybersecurity agencies.

Anna Ribeiro

Industrial Cyber News Editor. Anna Ribeiro is a freelance journalist with over 14 years of experience in the areas of security, data storage, virtualization and IoT.