National Security: A Last Minute Job?
January 20, 2025
On its way out the door, the Biden administration has enacted a prudent policy. Whether it will persist long under the new administration is anyone’s guess. The White House Briefing Room released a “Fact Sheet: Ensuring U.S. Security and Economic Strength in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.” The rule provides six key mechanisms on the diffusion of U.S. Technology. The statement specifies:
“In the wrong hands, powerful AI systems have the potential to exacerbate significant national security risks, including by enabling the development of weapons of mass destruction, supporting powerful offensive cyber operations, and aiding human rights abuses, such as mass surveillance. Today, countries of concern actively employ AI – including U.S.-made AI – in this way, and seek to undermine U.S. AI leadership. To enhance U.S. national security and economic strength, it is essential that we do not offshore this critical technology and that the world’s AI runs on American rails. It is important to work with AI companies and foreign governments to put in place critical security and trust standards as they build out their AI ecosystems. To strengthen U.S. security and economic strength, the Biden-Harris Administration today is releasing an Interim Final Rule on Artificial Intelligence Diffusion. It streamlines licensing hurdles for both large and small chip orders, bolsters U.S. AI leadership, and provides clarity to allied and partner nations about how they can benefit from AI. It builds on previous chip controls by thwarting smuggling, closing other loopholes, and raising AI security standards.”
The six mechanisms specify 18 key allies to whom no restrictions apply and create a couple trusted statuses other entities can attain. They also support cooperation between governments on export controls, clean energy, and technology security. As for “countries of concern,” the rule seeks to ensure certain advanced technologies do not make it into their hands. See the briefing for more details.
The measures add to previous security provisions, including the October 2022 and October 2023 chip controls. We are assured they were informed by conversations with stakeholders, bipartisan members of Congress, industry representatives, and foreign allies over the previous 10 months. Sounds like it was a lot of work. Let us hope it does not soon become wasted effort.
Cynthia Murrell, January 20, 2025
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