Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence

Summary

President Joseph Biden issued an “Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence.” The first-of-its-kind executive action establishes the Administration’s oversight of the rapidly evolving technology while Congress works to develop a comprehensive regulatory framework. The document covers a broad range of risks that AI poses – including the production of biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons, risks to cybersecurity, the generation of deepfakes, and privacy violations. However, it is devoted, in large part, to national security concerns, mandating various new responsibilities to the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security, the Director of National Intelligence, and other agencies. The executive order was issued a few days before the UK’s AI Safety Summit.

Updates

January 20, 2025. President Trump rescinded the executive order.

January 23, 2025. President Trump issued an executive order instructing the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology (APST), the Special Advisor for AI and Crypto, and the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (APNSA) to immediately review, in coordination with the heads of all agencies as they deem relevant, all policies, directives, regulations, orders, and other actions taken pursuant to the revoked EO that are inconsistent with new administration's AI policy. For any such agency actions identified, the heads of agencies shall, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, suspend, revise, or rescind such actions, or propose suspending, revising, or rescinding such actions.