White House Issues Executive Order Regulating Artificial Intelligence

In a significant move this week, the White House issued a fresh executive order, outlining a multifaceted approach towards the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI). The order, which touches on intellectual property (IP) issues among others, presents eight key principles aimed at managing risks while promoting the growth and benefits of AI.

The primary focus of the executive order is to ensure that AI remains secure, trustworthy, and safe. This involves the development of guidelines, standards, and best practices, verifying reliability, and managing risks associated with national security, cybersecurity, and critical infrastructure. The order also underscores the importance of fostering innovation and competition in AI, facilitated through public-private partnerships and addressing IP issues in a way that safeguards inventors and creators.

The executive order also highlights the importance of supporting workers who may be affected by the adoption of AI. This includes provisions for training, principles for workplace deployment, and analyzing the impacts on the labor market. It further emphasizes the need to advance equity and civil rights in the use of AI in areas such as criminal justice, government benefits, hiring, and others.

The order also includes a strong emphasis on consumer protection, particularly from risks associated with AI systems. It states, “Consumer protections are more important than ever in moments of technological change.” Additionally, it seeks to safeguard privacy by evaluating commercial data use and promoting privacy-enhancing technologies.

The executive order goes beyond these guiding principles to set forth several requirements — primarily directed at Federal executive agencies. The most stringent regulations appear to be aimed at future AI models that are larger than those currently deployed by organizations like OpenAI. This also extends to “dual-use” models that could potentially impact national security.

Companies developing or intending to develop “potential dual-use foundation models” are required to provide information to the government about model training, ownership of model weights, results of AI “red team” testing, and measures taken to meet safety objectives. The Secretary of Commerce is authorized to define the technical conditions that would trigger these reporting requirements.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is tasked with developing standards and tests to ensure that AI systems are safe, secure, and trustworthy. The Department of Commerce is also directed to develop guidance for content authentication and watermarking of AI-generated content, such as AI images generator and AI video generator.

The executive order also addresses the intellectual property-related aspects of AI. It instructs the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to issue guidance on AI and inventorship, including issues related to using generative AI in the inventive process. It also calls for the USPTO Director to consult with the Copyright Office and make recommendations on potential executive actions related to copyright and AI.

Moreover, the executive order directs Homeland Security to develop a program to address AI-related intellectual property theft. It also encourages the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to promote competition in the AI marketplace and protect consumers and workers from related harms.

The order further promotes public-private partnerships on advancing innovation, commercialization, and risk-mitigation methods for AI. This includes addressing novel IP questions related to artificial intelligence generated images and ai text generator.

Although these requirements do not have an immediate effect, they signal that further action is expected over the coming months. This executive order serves as a crucial step in shaping the future of AI regulation and offers insightful coverage of the latest AI news & AI tools.