Executive Order Will Bring US into AI Regulation Circles

The Biden administration released an AI order in late October, one that brings the US to the conversation about how AI should be viewed and regulated as it begins to permeate the commercial sphere. Under the Executive Order, AI tools intended for purchase by federal government customers must share safety data with the feds. The Order would also require these AI tools to be able to identify AI-generated images. Finally, the tools would have to undergo risk assessment led by NIST (the national standards body).  

Why It Matters

The EU is pushing ahead with AI regulations, and Congress would like to get in on the act as well. The Executive Order gets the US conversation about AI off to an official start, beginning with AI purchases by the government. It is not unusual for “best practices” and marketplace standards to develop from US government purchasing rules, so this is a significant step toward setting real regulations in place.