U.S. House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Passes AI Safety Bill
The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology has passed the AI Incident Reporting and Security Enhancement Act, which requires the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to establish common definitions for AI security vulnerabilities and support the development of standards on how best to manage them. The bill also requires the NIST Director to launch a stakeholder engagement process with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop a process for voluntary collection, reporting, and tracking of substantial AI security incidents.
Read more about why tracking AI incidents and vulnerabilities would support more capable safety and security disciplines.
U.S. Senators Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Use AI in Preparing for Future Pandemics
U.S. Senators Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM), co-chairs of the Senate AI Caucus, have introduced a bipartisan bill that tasks the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to leverage AI for pandemic preparedness and response by establishing a nationwide program called Medshield. Medshield would help proactively monitor for new threats and respond to future pandemics by using AI to monitor and detect pathogens in real-time, identify and develop vaccines more effectively, and to develop and deploy therapeutic treatments for people impacted by biological threats.
UN General Assembly Adopts Global Digital Compact
The United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted the Global Digital Compact, which sets out a set of principles and objectives to guide multilateral cooperation between countries on digital technologies, with a commitment to rely on international law and principles of human rights in guiding digital policies. The Compact also set out a range of objectives to close digital divides between regions, advance interoperable data governance frameworks, and develop a framework for international governance of AI.
U.S. House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Passes AI Energy Bill
The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology has passed the Department of Energy Artificial Intelligence Act to leverage AI for the Department’s mission and activities. The bill allows the Secretary of Energy to fund research and development of various AI tools and systems, including to use AI to improve the simulation of natural phenomena, develop automated, intelligent decision-making systems, and develop advanced computing hardware and software needed for AI algorithms. The bill also requires the Department to establish at least one data center testbed to develop hardware and algorithms for energy-efficient AI training and inference.
