WH: The Executive Branch is shifting to a forward-leaning, pro-innovation and pro competition mindset rather than pursuing the risk-averse approach of the previous administration. Image: Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffA pair of OMB memos on adoption and use of AI by federal agencies revokes Biden administration policies in that area that they term as overly restrictive, saying that agencies are now “empowered to drive AI innovation and seize the opportunity to apply the best of American AI.”
“The Executive Branch is shifting to a forward-leaning, pro-innovation and pro competition mindset rather than pursuing the risk-averse approach of the previous administration,” says a White House document released along with OMB memos 25-21 and -22. “The Federal Government will no longer impose unnecessary bureaucratic restrictions on the use of innovative American AI in the Executive Branch.”
The former memo sets general policies that agencies must “remove unnecessary and bureaucratic requirements that inhibit innovation and responsible adoption”; “reuse resources that enable AI adoption, such as agency data, models, code, and assessments of AI performance”; “maximize the use of AI products and services that are developed and produced in the United States”; and “establish clear expectations for their workforce on appropriate AI use particularly when an agency is using AI to support consequential decision-making.”
The latter memo focuses on detailed acquisition policies, centered on the themes that agencies must “pay careful attention to vendor sourcing, data portability, and long-term interoperability to avoid significant and costly dependencies on a single vendor”; “ensure that the AI systems they procure are fit for purpose and deliver consistent results that preserve public trust”; and involve “agency officials with varied expertise” in acquisition.
The Trump administration early on had revoked a wide-ranging 2023 executive order that set internal governmental AI policies and later published a request for information on a new AI strategy.
The Biden order had required the development of guidelines on the ethical use of AI by the military and intelligence communities; guidelines for agencies to evaluate the effectiveness of privacy-preserving techniques; and an evaluation of how agencies collect and use commercially available information. It also addressed issues such as ensuring that systems are safe, secure and trustworthy; protections against fraud and deceptive content; use of AI to find and fix vulnerabilities in software; and more.
Follow-up OMB memos that are now revoked had required that agencies: assure that privacy officials have early, ongoing involvement in AI acquisition processes; determine when an acquisition would trigger additional risk management requirements for rights-impacting and safety-impacting AI; and assure that contracts obligate vendors to provide sufficient information to identify and manage risk.
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