The 34-page memo from Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda D. Young corresponds with President Joe Biden’s October AI executive order, providing more detailed guardrails and next steps for agencies. It finalizes a draft of the policy that was released for public comment in November. 

“This policy is a major milestone for President Biden’s landmark AI executive order, and it demonstrates that the federal government is leading by example in its own use of AI,” Young said in a call with reporters before the release of the memo. 

Among other things, the memo mandates that agencies establish guardrails for AI uses that could impact Americans’ rights or safety, expands what agencies share in their AI use case inventories, and establishes a requirement for agencies to designate chief AI officers to oversee their use of the technology. 

Vice President Kamala Harris highlighted those three areas on the call with the press, noting those “new requirements have been shaped in consultation with leaders from across the public and private sectors, from computer scientists to civil rights leaders, to legal scholars and business leaders.”

“President Biden and I intend that these domestic policies will serve as a model for global action,” Harris said.

In addition to the memo, Young announced that the National AI Talent Surge established under the order will hire “at least 100 AI professionals into government by this summer.” She also said OMB will take action later this year on federal procurement of AI and is releasing a request for information on that work.

Under the policy, agencies are required to evaluate and monitor how AI could impact the public and mitigate the risk of discrimination. That includes things like allowing people at the airport to opt out of the Transportation Security Administration’s use of facial recognition “without any delay or losing their place in line,” or requiring a human to oversee the use of AI in health care diagnostics, according to a fact sheet provided by OMB.

Additionally, the policy expands existing disclosures that agencies must share publicly and annually that inventory their AI uses. Those inventories must now identify whether a use is rights- or safety-impacting. The Thursday memo also requires agencies to submit aggregate metrics about use cases that aren’t required to be included in the inventory. In the draft, the requirement for aggregate metrics applied only to the Department of Defense.

The policy also establishes the requirement for agencies to designate within 60 days of the memo’s publication a CAIO to oversee and manage AI uses. Many agencies have already started naming people for those roles, which have tended to be chief information, data and technology officials. 

“This is to make sure that AI is used responsibly, understanding that we must have senior leaders across our government who are specifically tasked with overseeing AI adoption and use,” Harris said of the CAIO role.

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The group of eight democratic lawmakers, which includes Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Kamala Harris, D-Calif., as well as freshman Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., are concerned that the use of facial recognition at these properties infringes on residents’ right to privacy. “They should not have to compromise their civil rights and liberties nor accept the condition of indiscriminate, sweeping government surveillance to find an affordable place to live,” the group writes.

In addition to questions about how many properties have used facial recognition technology in the past five years, the lawmakers want to know if research shows that these cameras actually make residences safer and what HUD is doing to ensure that any data collected is kept secure.

“Potential sharing of this data,” the letter reads, “further heightens concerns about the risk this technology poses to vulnerable communities.”

The letter comes after the media has detailed the use of this technology in federally subsidized housing. In July Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., who is also a signatory to the recent letter, introduced legislation that would ban facial recognition technology in public housing. In November, Booker introduced companion legislation in the Senate.

The group requests answers from HUD by Jan. 24.

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Senate legislation to boost the government’s use of artificial intelligence is returning with bipartisan sponsorship and a long list of industry supporters.

The Artificial Intelligence in Government Act’s four proponents from the previous Congress — Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Cory Gardner, R-Colo., Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Kamala Harris, D-Calif. — announced Wednesday that they plan to reintroduce it. The legislation was first introduced by the same group in September 2018 but stalled as the previous Congress came to a close.

The bill, broadly, aims to “improve the use of AI across the federal government by providing access to technical expertise and streamlining hiring within the agencies.” It would create a Center of Excellence for AI within the General Services Administration; establish a government advisory board on AI; direct the Office of Personnel Management to identify the skills necessary for employee competence in AI; and prompt agencies to “create governance plans to advance innovative uses and reduce barriers to AI for the benefit of the public,” according to a news release.

“We can’t continue to lead the world in AI technology if our own government isn’t making the most of it,” Schatz said in a statement. “Our bill will give the federal government the resources it needs to hire experts, do research, and work across federal agencies to use AI technologies in smart and effective ways.”

Reps. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif. and Mark Meadows, R-N.C., introduced a companion bill in the House the same day.

The bill also boasts support from a healthy list of outside companies, industry groups and think tanks, including the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Internet Association, Facebook and others.

AI, and specifically American leadership in AI, continues to be very popular with the current administration. In March the White House launched AI.gov, a new landing page for all the federal government’s efforts around artificial intelligence.

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The measure, which Trump signed Friday ahead of a partial government shutdown, proposes to spend more than $1.2 billion over the next five years to establish a coordinated framework between federal research labs, academia and the private sector to advance QIS technologies.

“By signing the National Quantum Initiative Act, President Trump has enshrined into law this nation’s commitment to expanding our leadership in quantum information science,” Michael Kratsios, deputy assistant to the president for technology policy, said in a statement. “This next great technological revolution has far-reaching implications for job creation, economic growth and national security.”

The law also creates:

• National Quantum Information Science Research Centers within the Department of Energy.
• Research and education centers in the National Science Foundation.
• A “workshop of stakeholders” administered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology “to discuss the future measurement, standards, cybersecurity, and other appropriate needs for supporting the development of a robust quantum information science and technology industry in the United States.”
• A Subcommittee on Quantum Information Science under the National Science and Technology Council.
• A National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee to advise the president.

Trump’s signing of the quantum bill caps a year in which quantum technology, including quantum computing, has come to the forefront of national importance for its theoretical potential to increase computing power and disrupt encryption standards.

Reps. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, and Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Texas, first introduced the National Quantum Initiative Act in June, shortly after Sen. Kamala Harris crafted legislation to establish a quantum research consortium inside the Department of Defense.

The White House also voiced its support for coordinated quantum research later that month, forming a QIS-based subcommittee within its Office of Science and Technology Policy. Administration officials also touted quantum technology development among its list of eight essential research & development goals for fiscal 2020.

While quantum computers are not yet diffuse in the marketplace, their potential to outpace classical computers has led to a global race to develop the technology. Russia and China have committed resources to advance the QIS applications, and there have been calls for the U.S. to partner with allies on its development.

The National Quantum Initiative will be a significant step in coordinating those research efforts, Kratsios said.

“We look forward to building upon efforts to support the quantum-smart workforce of the future and engage with government, academic and private sector leaders to advance QIS,” he said.

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To this end, the bipartisan group including Sens. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Cory Gardner, R-Colo., Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Kamala Harris, D-Calif., introduced the Artificial Intelligence in Government Act on Wednesday. Per a news release, the bill would seek to “improve the use of AI across the federal government by providing resources and directing federal agencies to include AI in data-related planning.”

The bill aims to do a number of things, including establishing an AI in government advisory board, directing the White House Office of Management and Budget to look into AI as part of the federal data strategy, getting the Office of Personnel Management to look at what kinds of employee skills are necessary for AI competence in government and expanding “an office” at the General Services Administration that will provide expertise, do research and “promote U.S. competitiveness.”

“Artificial intelligence has the potential to benefit society in ways we cannot imagine today,” Harris said in a statement. “We already see its immense value in applications as diverse as diagnosing cancer to routing vehicles. The AI in Government Act gives the federal government the tools and resources it needs to build its expertise and in partnership with industry and academia. The bill will help develop the policies to ensure that society reaps the benefits of these emerging technologies, while protecting people from potential risks, such as biases in AI.”

The proposed legislation is supported by a bunch of companies and advocacy groups in the tech space including BSA, the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, Intel, the Internet Association, the Lincoln Network, Microsoft, the Niskanen Center, and the R Street Institute.

The senators are hardly alone in their conviction that AI will be a powerful tool for government. At a summit in May, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy created a Select Committee on artificial intelligence, comprised of senior research and development officials from across the government.

“As artificial intelligence transforms everything from agriculture to manufacturing to transportation, the potential for AI remains breathtaking,” Michael Kratsios, deputy CTO at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said in his remarks at the event. “But we cannot be passive. To realize the full potential of AI for the American people, it will require the combined efforts of industry, academia, and government.”

And just this week, Reps. Will Hurd, R-Texas, and Robin Kelly, D-Ill., made a call for an AI national strategy. Specifically, Hurd and Kelly said in comments, Congress should take a more proactive role in shaping governance around the technology.

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