NSM addresses safety, advances leadership, builds international cooperation
On Thursday, the White House issued the first-ever National Security Memorandum (NSM) on artificial intelligence. The NSM focuses on three priorities, including U.S. leadership in the development of safe AI, harnessing AI to advance national security, and international cooperation on AI governance. The memo also serves as a formal charter for the U.S. AI Safety Institute, which will lead the way on setting national and international standards for AI.
“AI has already put its foot on the gas, and this is about the U.S. putting its hands on the wheel,” said ARI President Brad Carson. “Today’s memorandum offers a framework that puts the U.S. in a position to encourage adoption and take advantage of AI developments, by aligning the world on American-led AI safeguards and updating our national security to address new threats. We don’t know exactly the direction AI will take in the next decade, but there’s enough flexibility written into this framework to ensure the U.S. is well positioned in any scenario.”
Before leading ARI, Carson served as Under Secretary of the Army, General Counsel of the Army, and finally as Acting Undersecretary of Defense between 2012 and 2016. Carson is also the current President of the University of Tulsa.
In addition to today’s NSM, the Biden Administration issued a companion Framework for AI Governance detailing how federal agencies can and cannot use AI.
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Americans for Responsible Innovation (ARI) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to policy advocacy in the public interest, focused on emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). Learn more at responsibleinnovation.org.